Mind Over Matter
by mebeemmy
Summary: Sequel to 'The Sky Is Falling'. Max is seeing things; she can't tell what's real or not. Max can't trust herself, and that's the worst limitation she could ever be provided with. Is her mind playing tricks on her? Or is something taking over Max? COMPLETE
1. Phone Calls

**A/N: THE SEQUEL'S HERE!!!! The full summary can be found on my profile.**

**Just so you know, the stroy will be going into the plot pretty quickly, but that's how I intended it to be for a reason. **

**Please review!**

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Whoever coined the phrase, 'what you don't know can't hurt you', should get the crap beaten out of them.

Because me and the five people I've lived with my whole life—Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel—hurt the _most_ when we don't know anything.

Sadly, now we have to live with not knowing, because Jeb is dead, and he had all the answers. If you've been following my story this whole time, you'll know what I'm talking about and that I'm _not_ a freak (well, besides the, you know, freaking _wings_). If you haven't read the whole story, I suggest you go back and start from the beginning, because from here things only get more crazy and confusing.

Well, actually, whether you've read the whole story or not, things are going to get crazy.

But, this is _my_ life, so you should already know that.

I woke up not to screaming or crying or M-geeks attacking, but to a six-year-old with mind-reading abilities and an eleven-year-old with a mouth that never stops moving jumping on my (Well, Ella's) bed at six o'clock in the morning.

"Max, wake up!" Angel cried, flopping on top of me.

"Why? Is somebody dying? Are we in immediate danger? Did Iggy and Gazzy blow something essential up?" I asked groggily. I hadn't heard anything, and we all have really good hearing _and _we're light sleepers, so I wasn't worried. Plus Fang had demanded Brigid to leave us alone, basically meaning she _had_ to. Long story.

Angel giggled. "No,"

"Then I'd prefer to just stay here."

"No, Max," Nudge whined, grabbing my arm and trying to drag me out of the bed. "Wake up, because today's your birthday! Well, not really, since none of us actually know when our real birthdays are, but the day that you chose to be your birthday! So today you're fifteen, well supposedly, and--!"

"Nudge. Please." I groaned, sitting up.

"Sor-_ry_, but you weren't getting up!" She sang.

"How did you guys even know today was my…sort-of birthday?" I asked. We've been on the run for a while, so we've had more important things to worry about than birthdays and whatnot. I had actually sort of forgotten myself.

"Fang reminded us!" Angel chirped.

I raised my eyebrows. "Fang remembered?"

"Uh, _yeah_," Nudge said in her best 'duh' voice. "Now, come _on_. Get _up_."

"Yeah, okay, I'm up." I insisted.

A while later, once I got downstairs, the phone rang. "I've got it," I announced to Mom, who had been walking to get to it. For some reason, I had a feeling I needed to answer it.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver.

"Happy Birthday," A voice said. I recognized it, causing my blood to turn to icy slush.

"Who is this?" I demanded, trying not to let the panic rising inside me show in my voice.

"Remember: mind over matter."

"What are you talking about? Who is this?" I interrogated more severely.

The line went dead.

I dropped the phone back on its cradle as if it were some sort of poisonous animal.

"Max? Who was that?" My mom asked.

"Huh? Oh, it was just some guy trying to sell us something." I lied.

She nodded and left. Fang, however, caught my eye. Apparently, I didn't do a good job of hiding the alarm on my face, because he came over.

"Who was it?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said, "But it sounded…like my Voice. Like the Voice was talking to me on the phone. Except it was…creepier, or darker or something."

"What did it say?"

"It told me 'mind over matter'. And it wished me a happy birthday." Hey, at least the caller was polite.

And then the weirdest feeling came over me; like suddenly something in my brain left. It made my head feel scarily vacant. And I thought I knew why.

The Voice had left.


	2. Mental Blocks

**A/N: Being sued is not something I'm interested in, so here's a disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. But someday I will, along with the world!**

…**Oh, whoops. Did I say that out loud? T.T**

**Claimer: Hey, wanna know what's cool? This plot actually **_**belongs**_** to me this time! I made it up myself! This means I will have to squeeze the life out of you if you take it! **

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I tensed. Fang noticed.

"What?" He asked.

"I wish I could answer that question." I muttered. "Something's--"

"Max, what did you do?" I heard Angel ask.

At that moment, the whole room went silent. If it wasn't so creepy, it would be pretty epic. Everyone knew that when Angel said something like that, she wasn't taking it lightly.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" I asked as calmly as I could.

"I can't read your mind anymore," She whispered. "Are you blocking me out?"

"I'm not doing a thing." I said.

"Your mind is just…nothing. I can't get anything from you." She said, sounding puzzled.

"Have you ever not gotten anything from someone else?" I asked

Angel started to shake her head, the stopped and nodded. "Jeb," she admitted, "but it wasn't like this. For him, I felt like I was being pushed out. I don't feel like you're pushing me out, but that there's just nothing to read."

Did the Voice leaving have something to do with that?

And what did the caller say again? _Mind over matter._ What did that mean?

I half-expected the Voice to spew its philosophy crap, and then remembered it was gone. Probably for good.

I've always wanted it gone, but now that it was, I couldn't stand my head having only _me_ in it.

I bet you've never had to use a sentence like _that _in your life.

Actually, now that I thought about it, I was a little _too_ lightheaded since the Voice had gone.

This was pretty much my last thought before I felt myself sinking downward to the floor.

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****Reviewing gives me the warm fuzzies inside! Me + Warm fuzzies= more (and better) updates! Good, so, you'll review, then? Kape, I'll be waiting. ;)**


	3. Second Guess

**A/N: Sorry it took me a while to update. I was just fixing some minor stuff, making sure it all fit together for the story. I didn't want to get ahead of myself. This story will most likely not be as long as The Sky Is Falling, but oh well. It'll be better anyways, probably. After this chapter, things will pretty much start slowing down, meaning that not a million things happen to Max chapter after chapter ;). Anyways, here you go. **

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I was awake. But not really. Lights, feelings, sounds, they all overlapped each other, melted together, whirled in circles until I couldn't tell what was words, what was thoughts, what was lights and textures and pain.

It was confusing. But I latched onto that feeling of confusion desperately, because it was the only identifiable, true thing that I could separate from the rest of the turmoil in my brain. And that feeling of misunderstanding was proof. Reassurance that I was still alive, still here. And that eventually, everything would be back to normal. Or, at least, as normal as it gets with me.

The next sense I could detach from the foggy whirlwind in my head was hearing. Hearing voices, and words.

"—seriously hurt?" That was Ella, I was pretty sure. Or maybe Nudge.

"No," Fang. "She's waking up now, I think."

Someone was holding my hand. I knew it was Fang

"Max? Can you hear me?" Fang asked quietly.

I was scared if I spoke, it would come out shaky. So I just squeezed his hand, to show I could hear him.

"Max, what the heck was that?" Iggy asked.

I shrugged.

The rest of the day we pretty much didn't talk about it. I think it freaked us all out enough without having to discuss it. I thought about what had happened, tried to figure out why.

Was the Voice turning on me? It was my only realistic solution. It had become one of Them. Or, worse, maybe it had always been one of Them.

Later on that evening, though, the third weird thing happened: I just suddenly felt sick. One second I was fine, the next I thought I wad going to puke. I ran to the bathroom.

Sitting on the floor, something compelled me to look beside the shower.

My breath caught in a small gasp.

What was that? A snake? No, it couldn't be, it was _huge_!

I got up and stepped closer to it. Yep, it was a snake.

Were snakes common in Arizona? Was it common to have one _in your bathroom_?

Okay, Max, take it easy, I told myself, it's just a snake. Just kill it.

The snake hissed angrily at me and slithered closer, rattling its tail.

"Crap," I muttered, trying not to scream and run out of the room like some girly-girl. My hand flew up to my mouth.

If it was rattling its tail, it was a rattlesnake.

If it was a rattlesnake, it was poisonous.

I assume you can see the dilemma here.

I flattened myself out against the door, trying to slow my breathing down.

The door I was leaning on opened, causing me to lose balance and fall backwards.

I yelped in surprise, and then scrambled up to a standing position. I turned and collided with the person who had opened the door.

"What the _hell_ are you doing?" I heard Fang ask.

I felt my cheeks get hot. "Nothing. I just…did you…there's a…_snake_ in there," I finally managed to choke out while trying to restart _my freaking heart_.

Fang smirked. "Are you afraid of snakes?" He asked, though already knowing the answer.

"_No!_" I protested a little too fiercely.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Fine, they freak me out a bit, okay?" I admitted hastily. "Can we please just get rid of it and forget this conversation ever happened?"

Fang went in, then suddenly paused.

"It's gone," He said.

I carefully walked into the bathroom. "No, it's not. Look, it's_ right there_." I pointed to the same corner it had been in before.

Fang shook his head. "There's nothing here."

Frustrated, I grabbed his arm and dragged him closer to the spot. Then I pushed him pretty much directly into the snake's path.

"_Right. There._" I repeated through clenched teeth, with exaggerated patience.

Fang took my by the shoulders. "Listen to me, Max. There is _nothing _there." He said slowly, like he was talking to a little kid.

"I saw it, Fang," I said just as slowly. It was too real to be a hallucination. I knew it couldn't be.

"Do you see it right now?"

I glanced over.

Nothing.

I turned back to Fang. "No." I said.

Nudge, Angel, Gazzy and Iggy appeared, wondering what we were doing.

"Max, what's happening to you?" Gazzy asked.

I'd let him know as soon as _I_ found out.

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**A/N 2: Remember: Reviews=WARM FUZZIES!!! **

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	4. Guilty Conscience

"Come on Max, please?" Angel asked.

"No." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

Nudge frowned, a pleading look in her eyes. "But it'll be fun! There'll just be me, you, Angel, and Ella, and it could be, like, girl time, and, Angel and I really need new clothes and isn't like we're gonna get attacked or something because we've been here for, like, weeks and we haven't been yet and it'll just be a really quick trip and you don't have to, like, try on clothes or anything but at least come so we--"

"I could hardly understand you with all the 'likes' you used in that sentence," I interrupted.

"If anything happens, you can totally blame it on me," Ella put in hopefully.

"Okay. So, let me get this straight. You want me to go the _mall_ with you, which is crowded with people that may or may not have an extreme desire to _kill us_, and then if the building suddenly spontaneously combusts, I can blame it on you?" I said.

"Yup. But nothing will happen, Max." Ella said.

"If I had a nickel every time I heard that," I muttered. Then, in a louder voice, I said, "Fine. We can go, as long as you all stay with me at all times, and Nudge and Angel try to seem normal to some extent. As in, don't control the cashiers to let you have stuffed animals for free"—I gave Angel a meaningful look—"or go all magnetic on me and attract all the silverware in Zellers or something." This time, I gave Nudge the same pointed look.

All three of them nodded excitedly, and ran downstairs to tell Mom.

I sat in my room, considering whether I was absolutely crazy for doing this, or the absolute freaking kindest person I knew.

"You're taking them to a mall?" Fang asked, slight disbelief in his voice.

I looked up. "Uh-huh. And if you make any comments about it, I'm dragging you with me."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Nope."

Ella called from downstairs, asking me if I was ready and to hurry up.

"I'm coming!" I called back, and sighed. "Fang, if I come back wearing nail polish, or a bow in my hair, or those lacy socks that girls seem to be crazy about, call the police. And maybe the paramedics."

Fang nodded.

"And wipe that smirk off your face," I said, without looking at him.

* * *

Nudge, Angel and Ella chattered nonstop while they were there. I, however, was wound as tight as…well, there's no simile I can give you. I was just _really_ tense.

"…Don't you think, Max?"

"Huh?" I was brought back to earth with Nudge's voice.

Ella sighed and rolled her eyes. "Never mind. But you're biting your lip so hard it's bleeding, I don't know if you noticed."

I let go of my lip and immediately did taste blood. Oops.

"Let's go to this store," Ella said, dragging me to a store I didn't see or care to know the name of.

"Hey, this place is nice." I heard a muffled voice say. I jumped.

"Angel, is Total in your backpack?" I asked, hoping against hope the answer was 'no'.

Angel looked down guiltily. "Well, he was supposed to _stay quiet_," She said significantly to her backpack.

"Well, I forgot. Sor-_ry._" Total huffed "You'd think she'd appreciate that I can talk at all. Now let me out." Angel sighed and unzipped the backpack.

"Angel, no--" I started.

I was too late. Total bounded out of the bag, yapping excitedly.

"Oh, man," I groaned. "Total! Get you furry butt back here!" I yelled, earning me quite the looks from all the shoppers in the store. I smiled innocently at them, and then continued to run down the aisles after Total, the Nudge, Ella, and Angel right behind me.

He turned a corner suddenly, and I did as well, but, _of course_, the floor was wet from just being mopped, so I slipped and hit a counter, knocking down the contents of it.

Just so you guys know, apparently ceramic tabby cat figurines are every breakable. I learned that the hard way.

Cursing under my breath, I picked my way through shattered pottery feline body parts to where Total had ran to.

I collided with someone. I stopped so fast that Angel, Nudge, and Ella ran into me.

I looked up. A security guard was holding Total, glowering at us.

"Hel-lo," I said in a sing-song voice, giving him an uneasy smile.

He continued to glare.

"Well, you have something of ours, there," I pointed to Total. "Any chance you'll give back our dog and let us off with a warning? No?" I sighed. "Well, then, I don't usually do this, officer, but we're kinda in a hurry, so…" I trailed off, and kicked the security guard in the groin. He went down on his knees in pain. I grabbed Total and sprinted out of the store with the other three girls.

"You suck," I concluded to Total, who rolled his eyes.

Apparently, that security guy had reinforcements. They cornered us. From all sides.

Yes, we could have flown away, maybe. But first of all, the ceiling was pretty low, and we were indoors. Second, we had Ella with us. Thirdly, we didn't have slits in our shirts for our wings, in the hopes it would hide our wings enough for us to look relatively normal (I mentally scolded myself for doing this. How stupid could I get?). Lastly, I had told Nudge and Angel to act normal, therefore it would be pretty hypocritical for me to snap out my wings and get the heck outta there.

So, anyway, they took us away.

Did you know malls have jails? Well, they do.

Guess where I spent an hour sitting, waiting for my mom to come free us?

Fang was going to kill me.

"I always knew my life would end like this," Total wailed dramatically.

"Oh, Total, don't worry. Your life isn't going to end like this. It's going to end with me _standing_ on your _neck_," I said bitterly.

He said nothing.

My mom burst in with a security guard.

"Oh, hey, Mom," I said casually, like I always spent my time in a cell at the mall.

"What happened?" She asked, seeming angry.

I remembered what Ella had promised me. "It's Ella's fault," I blurted, then smiled at my half-sister sweetly. She rolled her eyes.

Ah, sisterly love.

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****A/N: Yeah, this chapter was basically just a filler, sorta. Haha. Review anyways, please! (:**


	5. Locked Doors

As we walked into the house, Mom said, "Ella, I need to speak to you."

Ella walked into the kitchen with her, and I could hear incoherent talking. Then, Ella came back out, shot me a look, and ran upstairs to her room

And if looks could kill, I would be brutally bludgeoned with a crowbar, if you know what I mean.

Wondering what was wrong, I followed her up to her room and knocked on the door.

She mumbled a response, and I opened the door.

"What's up?" I asked her warily, remembering the look of death she had given me a few moments before.

"Mom's mad at me." She said.

I sat down next to her on the bed. "Well, she was probably…"

"She's not mad at you. She's mad at me. And it's not even my fault!"

"It wasn't anyone's fault--"

"It was _your_ fault."

"Ella, what do you want me to do?" I said, trying not to let the anger show in my voice.

"I want you to leave me alone right now." She whispered, almost apologetically.

Silence. Then, I said, "Alright," and stood up to leave.

But then I heard something. I froze.

"Ella," I whispered as calmly as I could, "get away from the window,"

"What--?"

"NOW, Ella!" I bellowed.

She had barely scrambled off the bed and ran next to me beside the door when the window shattered. About ten M-geeks flooded through. They cornered us.

Ella sucked in a breath, looking like she was about to scream, but I clamped my hand over her mouth.

"Get out of here with mom," I ordered, and she nodded, grabbing the doorknob with shaking hands. She went pale when the doorknob wouldn't budge.

"It's locked!" Ella cried frantically, sounding near tears.

"Who locked it?" I asked stupidly.

She shrugged helplessly. "It wasn't locked when you came in!"

I cursed loudly as an M-geek rushed me, and I performed a roundhouse kick that even Chuck Norris would be proud of. He fell motionless, but I barely had time to celebrate when another came at me. I brought both my hands down on the top of its head, and I was unpleasantly reminded of the M-geeks' orange-section vulnerable spot when blood splattered all over me.

Needless to say, it was de-lish.

I was two busy taking on an M-geek to see another punch Ella hard. She managed a choked whimper before her nose started bleeding. Really badly.

I gave a roar of utter fury and knocked out that M-geek's ankles. "Don't touch her!!" I screamed as loud as I could.

I turned just in time to see an M-geek kick me, sending me flying into the wall. Ella gasped, but I waved my hand dismissively, to show I was fine.

"Max?" I heard a voice shout form the other side of the door.

"Fang!" I cried, recognizing his voice. "M-geeks!" I winced as an M-geek gave me a hard uppercut punch, snapping my head back painfully.

"Is someone in there with you?" He asked calmly.

"Ella! Just get everyone out!"

I finished off the last of the M-geeks, and, not thinking straight, I grabbed Ella in my arms, unfurled my wings, and rocketed thought the broken window. "Hold on!" I told her.

I landed in the front yard, and carefully set Ella down, checking to make sure she was relatively okay. No bones seemed to be broken, except for possibly her nose.

Fang appeared next to me, and I told him, "I think her nose is broken." I put my head in my hands, feeling horribly guilty. Ella shouldn't have to deal with things like this. She shouldn't have to watch her half-sister killing ninjas, or, hell, even _have_ a half sister with wings. She shouldn't have had to deal with her mom getting kidnapped not so long ago.

I was ruining her life.

Fang put his arms around me, and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"Ella!" I heard my mom call. She was running out of the house towards us.

"Mom!" I cried. "I'm sorry! The M-geeks came, I didn't know…"

"It's not your fault, honey," Mom said gently.

Ella looked at me. "Nothing was. I'm sorry, Max."

I gave her a smile.

There's nothing like a good M-geek attack to bring people together again.

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	6. Reality Check

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! (:**

**I just wanted to say, ****I know the updates are slow compared to The Sky Is Falling, and I apologize for that****. It's just that for this fanfiction, I have to constantly research **_**everything.**_** Like, you have no idea how long I researched just for this chapter and chapter 3. ****For chapter 3, I spent altogether_ four hours_ researching****(in total during the whole span of time it took me to update, not in one day, I don't have time like that :P). So at least you guys now it's so slow because ****I'm researching every bit I can and making sure everything is close to perfect for the story!**** :P. **

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"We're not leaving," Angel said, tilting her chin up defiantly.

I sighed, my patience wearing dangerously thin. "Angel, the M-geeks know where we are now. We have to leave. I'm not putting my mom and Ella in danger any longer."

"The M-geeks _want_ us to leave." She explained impatiently, "They knew that once they attacked, we'd change our location. So we have to stay here, to trick them."

The flock sat there, shocked. We had never even considered that scenario.

"Are you sure?" I asked Angel.

"Totally, one hundred percent sure."

"_How_ are you so sure?" Fang asked.

"Arianna. She was in France, reading Itex's minds, and the M-geeks' minds when she saw them near her hiding place. She picked it up easily, but only managed to send it to me now."

"She can send thoughts all the way from _France_?" I asked incredulously.

Angel smiled. "She's not in France."

"Then where is she?"

"Close. But I can't tell you where, exactly."

"Why not?" Gazzy demanded.

Angel rolled her eyes at her brother. "She's a _spy_ for us. Spies are supposed to be sneaky, and don't blow their cover. _Duh_."

I laughed at Angel's expression.

Mom suddenly appeared in the room, and she stopped when she saw us all. "Did you tell her?' She asked quietly.

"Tell me what?" I asked, instantly alert.

"No," Iggy answered my mom.

"Tell me _what_?" I demanded fiercely.

Mom sat down at the table with us. "Well, the flock told me about the phone call, and the hallucination, and…"

"…so they told you everything, right?" I offered, giving my flock a what-the-heck-did-you-do-that-for look.

My mom sighed. "Well, yes. And I know it's hard for you right now, with that happening. And I don't think I'll be able to help you, so…" She trailed off, like she didn't know how to word what she was about to say. "Well, there's a neurological laboratory not too far from here called Biotech—I looked into it, and it seems pretty good, and a friend I knew from high school works there—I think it would be a good idea if we just paid it a visit."

There was a horrible loud silence (which sounds slightly oxymoronic, but is the only way I can describe it), as I digested what Mom had said, scanning everyone's faces.

"You think I'm going crazy," I concluded in disbelief, shaking my head. "You all do."

"No, Max, we're just worried about you," She said gently.

"You don't think I can deal with this. Reality check: I'm _Max_. I always will be, no matter what happens. Therefore, I'm a big girl and can get over this slight roadblock and continue doing what I'm doing, which is _saving the world_, in case you've forgotten." My voice, miracle of miracles, didn't tremble, even though my insides were. And (also miracles of miracles) my voice didn't rise with anger. It stayed at a regular volume, and had a (_very_ detectable) air of confidence in it.

"I know. But it might be slightly…easier to do your job if you could get help. As I said before, it seems safe."

I took a deep breath, keeping my attitude in check. The last thing I needed was to lose my temper in front of the whole flock while debating that I was perfectly fine. "Maximum Ride doesn't need help." I gave my mom a hollow smile. "But thanks anyway."

I got up without another word and left the room.

As I was going down the stairs, suddenly everything felt weird and different. I put my hand in front of my face; it felt like I was doing so in slow motion.

The stairs were suddenly white concrete and spiraling down a long ways.

_Oh, God, Oh, God…what the heck…?_

I blindly rushed down them, panicked and confused. Everything still felt like it was in slow motion, like in nightmares when you're trying to run away but for some reason you just can't—something's holding you back.

Images flashed behind my eyes.

Angel, being taken away from the Erasers when we were still at the E-shaped house…

Fang, lying on the beach, when Ari had come back from the dead and nearly killed him…

Iggy throwing a rock angrily into a store's window, when we were living with Anne…

Nudge crying when she had wanted to cut her wings off…

Gazzy, when he was stung by the man-of-war jellyfish…

Ari's shocked face when I broke his neck...

Jeb, lying lifeless next to Mr. Butler's mansion, his face covered with ash…

Ella, her nose bleeding, lying in the grass, only hours before…

The images kept flashing. _These are all the screw-ups I've made, _I realized with horror, _these are the stupid mistakes I've done that caused everyone so much pain, so much anger and fear and horror…_

"Wake up, Max." Fang said firmly, sounding a million miles away. I opened my eyes and drew in a deep breath that I didn't even know I was holding.

Trying to explain what happened, I started blurting whatever came to my mind ramblingly. "That was…I don't understand…I can't…how does that even--?"

"You're fine now," Nudge said, "Everything's okay."

As I met Fang's eyes, I could read the grave expression on his face, and knew what he was going to say.

Clearly, I actually _was_ going insane.

Clearly, I was so insane that I had worried my mom, enough for her to suggest I see a freaking _doctor_ about it.

Clearly, I had to go to Biotech if I wanted to continue being the leader.

Clearly, I was going to go to a place I had always tried to avoid: A laboratory. With doctors (read: scientists_)_ that wore _white coats_.

I just love when my nightmares somehow end up becoming reality.

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	7. Test Results

**A/N: All my info from here I take no credit for; it's from Wikipedia. :D**

**Wikipedia is the most amazing thing since those really cool huge swirly lollipops you get at candy stores!**

**-cough- Uh…forget I said that…**

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"I've decided I'll try Biotech," I told my mom the next morning.

"Okay," my mom said, "Your appointment's in an hour."

My eyebrows shot up. "You already made an appointment?' I asked skeptically.

"Yes. Fang said you would eventually end up going, so I already made the appointment."

I glanced at Fang, who pretended he didn't see me. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going on one condition," I started.

Iggy rolled his eyes. "There's always a condition," He muttered. I aimed a very powerful kick at him, but accidently hit Fang instead, who swore under his breath and shot me a WTH look. I winced apologetically, leaving Iggy unpunished for his actions.

"Anyway," I continued, "I'm only going if the flock comes, but you and Ella stay here. I don't want you to get hurt if this is a trap."

"Max, I told you I--"

"Looked into it," I finished, "yeah, I know. Still, I'd feel better if I knew you were at home, safe."

Mom sighed. "Okay."

"Do the doctors there know…?" Nudge said vaguely, trailing off.

"That you have wings? No, I don't think so. I didn't tell them." My mom said.

"Let's keep them unaware to our…er, _slight difference_…as long as possible, alright?" I said.

The flock nodded.

* * *

"The doctor is ready for you now," The secretary said. We all stood up.

_The question is, are _we_ ready for _him_? _I thought bitterly.

We walked into a doctors office, and I swear to God, if a pin dropped, the whole flock would probably jump about six feet in the air, bust out the window, and fly as far away form this sad, sad excuse for a laboratory (like, _hello_, there's not a dog crate in sight! How mediocre.), as we possibly could.

The doctor entered. I nudged Fang and leaned closer to him.

"That doctor's not a hallucination, right?" I asked, only half-joking.

Fang smirked and shook his head slightly.

"Hello…Max, is it?" The doctor asked.

"Last time I checked, yes. But yesterday my name was Susan." I deadpanned.

The doctor seemed like he wasn't sure if I was joking or not. "I'm, Doctor Maxwell Hartley."

Huh. A person in a white coat that shares a name with me.

That's cute.

The amount of sarcasm I just used could probably be used as a torture weapon somewhere in the world.

I heard Iggy snicker quietly, also noticing the name analogous.

Dr. Hartley ignored Iggy and looked down at his keyboard. "Tell me, Max, have you ever heard Voices in your head that weren't yours?"

The whole flock tensed. Keeping my face impassive, and looking straight into his eyes, I said, "No. Just the hallucinations, sir. I also have chronic hiccupping, but that could've just been the three cans of soda I had before I came here."

The doctor tried to ignore this, but I could tell he was getting annoyed.

"You've been having hallucinations?"

I nodded, then leaned in and whispered, "I see dead people."

Dr. Hartley did a wonderful impression of a tomato as his face reddened in anger. He hastily stood up, gathered his papers, mumbled crossly for us to wait here, and left the room.

Fang turned to me, his eyebrows raised. "'_You see dead people'?"_

I pressed my lips together and struggled to keep a straight face.

What seemed like hours later, another, female, doctor came in with a grave look on her face. "I believe we've discovered your problem, Max."

"You mean besides my problems at cooking?" I said brightly.

The doctor disregarded this. "You have Schizophrenia, Max."

I sucked in a breath loudly. "You mean…but…I have a _disorder_?" I sputtered.

The doctor nodded. "Schizophrenia is characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality." She went on. I was only half listening. I was still trying to get over the fact that I had a disorder. A real problem with my _brain_. How could I be a leader with something like this? "There are five different subtypes of schizophrenia. You seem to have the Paranoid type of schizophrenia."

She had said 'Schizophrenia' enough for my liking. Fang took my hand, which fortunately managed to snap me out of tunnel vision.

"Are you sure that's what I have?" I croaked.

"No laboratory test for schizophrenia currently exists, but it's very, very likely, yes." She smiled so apologetically I almost actually fell for her little 'sympathetic' act.

"No! It can't be 'very, very likely', because I'm not a schizophrenic! You're out of your mind, lady."

She smiled, but there was nothing happy about it. "No, apparently, _you're_ the one out of your mind."

I leaped up from my seat, angry beyond words.

"You'll have to stay here for a few days."

"Why?" I demanded angrily.

"Because you're dangerous."

"You keep talking to me like this, and I'll show you how dangerous I can be!" I spat.

"People with schizophrenia are dangerous because when having a hallucination, since they can't tell what's real and what's not, they could kill someone or themselves. Either that, or they commit suicide."

I glared at her. "I'll go as long as during that time you try—no, scratch that, you _do_—cure me. If I leave here, and I still have this problem, I am going to kick your ass."

She smiled. "Of course. We have a room for you already."

* * *

**Review's are the second-best thing next to Wikipedia!!!!!**

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	8. It's Complicated

**A/N: Just sayin', this fanfiction will most likely make The Sky Is Falling look like crap. :P**

**Huge things are going to happen. **_**Huge. **_**:D**

**And the treatment they give to Max is actually used in real life to treat patients with schizophrenia. I didn't make it up, and got all my info from Google. However, I changed the procedure for a good reason. You'll find out that later. :P**

**Last thing (this A/N's getting a bit long-winded :P): ****I started a poll on my profile, and it'd be great if you guys could vote! ****For all the choices I already have the story planned out for, but I need the answer ASAP. I already voted, but I just chose a random one, just to make sure my poll worked. :P**

**Anyways, onto chapter 8!!!!!**

* * *

I was so completely out of it that I didn't notice we had even been led to the hospital room until I had sat down on the bed, looking down at my hands, which were deposited in my lap.

"This sucks," Gazzy said softly.

I looked up at him, gave a weak smile and nodded. "Yeah. And…it's going to be hard being the leader with a problem like this. So, until I'm cured, maybe Fang should take over." As I neared the end of this sentence, my voice got quieter and quieter.

Angel looked at me in disbelief. "You don't like being the leader anymore, Max?"

I shook my head. "I love it. That's why I have to do this."

"That doesn't make sense."

I sighed. "It's complicated."

She frowned. "It shouldn't have to be."

"Why do you always say that, Angel? Not everything is going to work out perfectly and make sense."

Fang was shaking his head, and opened his mouth to say something—

"Sshh, the doctor's coming back in." Angel whispered, quickly tucking her wings back in and putting her windbreaker back on.

It was Dr. Hartley again, once again with his clipboard. "Just came to tell you that your treatment can begin tomorrow."

"Treatment for the schizophrenia that I don't have," I said under my breath.

He heard this and scribbled something on his clipboard. "Denial."

"That's what you went through when you finally moved out of your mom's basement, right?" I asked with force cheer.

That got him angry enough for me to believe that my assumption was probably true. "You need to learn some respect!" He barked.

"I'll learn it when you deserve it," I shot back.

He stared at me, and I stared right back.

"What kind of treatment is she getting?" Angel asked, giving him a characteristic smile.

Dr. Hartley seemed relieved that at least someone here wasn't ready to bite his head off. "Electroconvulsive therapy."

I tensed. Electro-_what_?

"What is…what does it do to me?" I asked.

He smiled. "It's nothing to worry about. It's a treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in patients."

"See, to me, that sounds like something to worry about." I said.

He ignored me. "Tomorrow morning, ten o'clock is you appointment. I'll see you then."

After he had left, I stood up. "I'm calling Mom. This place freaks me out." I announced.

"Max, the doctor said--" Iggy started.

"Yeah, because I'm going to believe what the doctor said." I scoffed. "After all, we've had such great luck with doctors!" I walked to the phone next to the hospital bed and picked it up.

It was dead.

"The phone's dead. Does the hospital staff know the phone's dead?" I asked to no one in particular.

"At least if the phone's dead, we know it can't be tapped," said Fang.

I stared at him, alarmed.

"I was kidding." He said, looking slightly concerned at my reaction.

"Maybe you can only use the phones at, like, a certain time everyday," Nudge suggested.

Okay, I'll admit, that was possible.

"Max, listen. You said you wanted to get cured. This electro-shock thingy will do that." Iggy said.

Nudge held up my mom's laptop. "I checked. Electroconvulsive therapy actually _is_ a treatment. So you're safe."

I was too relieved at Nudge's discovery to question how she managed to sneak my mom's laptop out of the house and into the hospital.

So I think you all know where I'm going now, right?

To Electroconvulsive therapy.

Translation: To my own personal hell on earth.

**

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****A/N: I was looking at the table of contents for Twilight, trying to find a certain chapter to show my mom a word I needed to know the definition of (my mom is like our family's walking dictionary), and I noticed that chapter 14 was called "Mind Over Matter". I was like "OH MY GOD! NO!" I felt sad because to me it was like Twilight had taken my story title, which made me feel less proud of myself for thinking of it myself. :( **

**But you know what would make me feel better? **

**_REVIEWS!!!! :D_**


	9. Sharp Shock

No one else came into the waiting room the whole time we were there, which is why it struck me as odd that we had been waiting for over an hour now.

"Are you ready, Max?" A doctor asked.

I nodded, even though I was not ready and never would be ready. Fang squeezed my hand gently as I stood up to follow the doctor.

He made me lie down on a bed, and I did so reluctantly, every muscle in my body bunched with fear. I focused on trying to breathe normally and not the fact that on my other side, someone was putting an IV in my arm.

"Here we go," He said. He injected a needle. A _huge_ needle.

My muscles all suddenly paralyzed. I felt someone stick more needle-type-things above my temples. Then an electric shock flew up my body, so powerful, so painful, it took my breath away. But not before I managed one uncontrollable scream of surprise.

Another sudden stronger jolt of electricity shot from my feet to the top of my head. I panicked, but still couldn't move. So it was like a seizure without the convulsions. Like just my brain was having the seizure.

I felt waves of unconsciousness trying to pull me under. Was I supposed to succumb to it, or fight it off?

But soon I had no choice. Struggling was out of the question; I was losing the battle. I let sweet nothingness come to me.

* * *

**Third Person POV**

"What's happening to her?" Angel asked, trying not to sound scared.

"She's fine," Fang said, his jaw tight. He didn't quite believe it himself.

Nudge, looking angry, wrenched open the door before anyone could stop her.

"You were supposed to give her anesthetic!" She shouted at the doctor.

The whole flock froze in disbelief.

Nudge was crying silently, but tried to still look fierce. "I've done the research; I did it just before we came here, to see how the procedure would go, just so, you know, I'd be prepared for what was going to happen to Max. You were supposed to use anesthetic, so she wouldn't feel anything. She wasn't supposed to feel all that pain!" She was screaming hysterically now.

The doctor acted perplexed. "I'm the doctor here; I think I know what I'm doing,"

"Obviously not," Nudge growled, and lunged at him. Fang grabbed her arm just in time.

"Get Max out of here," He whispered to Nudge. She nodded.

* * *

Where was I? I remembered trying to call my mom, but the phones were dead, and then…well, there was no 'and then'. That was the last thing I remembered.

My name being was whispered along with other things I couldn't quite understand. I didn't want to understand anyway. I was fine here, numb, unfeeling. But where exactly _was_ 'here'?

I think I fell asleep again right after that thought, but I'm not entirely sure.

The second time I woke, I remembered everything.

"Don't make me go back there," was the first thing out of my mouth.

"We won't." Fang said quietly.

"They didn't do it right," Angel said. "Nudge did research, and the doctors didn't give you anesthetic. You weren't supposed to be in pain. They could have killed you."

I should have known. "We're getting out of here."

Apparently, I had been out for four hours. Usually it took only about a day for normal patients to recover, so that seemed about right. The doctors still had me in my regular clothes, which probably should have clued me in to begin with that this place was bogus.

The hall echoed so loudly that we had to walk very lightly and carefully.

All the doors looked the same, except for one.

This one had a sign that said, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. So we listened to the sign and kept walking.

And if you actually believed that last sentence, clearly you don't know me very well.

Iggy picked the lock easily, and we were in.

There was a filing cabinet at the far side of the room.

I opened it. The only tab in there was marked with the letter _R._ I took it out and opened it. And what I saw made me want to scream and run out of here all the more.

**MAXIMUM RIDE**

STATUS: _Alive. _

_Arrived at premises on 1/11/10 _

N. MANIP.: _Success. _

_-May now move onward to next step (ECT)_

TIME OF N. MANIP:_ 10:48_

_**NOTE**__: __MUST__ BE TERMINATED BEFORE PHASE 2 CAN BE COMPLETED._

I dropped the file like it was on fire. There was that 10:48 thing _again_!

"There's nothing else in the whole filing cabinet. Just your file." Nudge confirmed, leafing through every drawer a second time.

I read just the last line out loud to everyone.

"What's phase two?" asked Gazzy in a whisper.

"Well, let's try to figure out what phase _one_ is first," I said.

"Something's coming." Iggy said suddenly. "They're coming _quick_."

We had to hurry. I knew we didn't have enough time to unlock cabinet and put my file back in the correct place, and if we didn't put it right where we had found it, someone would notice. So instead I just shoved it into Iggy's backpack and we all ran.

As soon as we stepped outside there were doctors everywhere, trying to block our way. We couldn't go back into the room or we'd be cornered for sure. Our only choice was to plow right through them and hope they'd be too surprised to do anything.

It worked.

"Stairs to our left." Fang said. I nodded and tugged open the door.

We managed to get down the whole first flight before the doctors caught up to us. The ceiling was too low for us to fly, and they were blocking our way back up. Our only choice was to keep running down and hoping that we'd somehow lose them.

But then as my breath caught in a sharp gasp, I realized these stairs were familiar; they were the same white, spiraling ones I had seen in my hallucination.

I was about to tell Fang this when a sound of lung-crushing thunder caused the world around me to dissolve before my eyes.


	10. Concrete Facts

**A/N: CHAPTER TEN! WOOT! Sorry again for the wait; I can't blame it on research this time, just writer's block on how to end the chapter. :P **

**You guys rock. Seriously. Over fifty reviews for, like, nine chapters?! That's awesome!**

**Oh, and I know deep, **_**deep**_**, **_**deep**_** down inside, you all love my cliffies. ;)**

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When my surroundings began to rematerialize, I was surrounded in white.

I hadn't gone unconscious; I knew that for a concrete fact. It was just like…I can't even explain it. Like I had _teleported_, kind of.

_What…? _I thought groggily, trying to sit arms were pinned down, hugging my sides. I tried to move them. Couldn't. My wings were stuck, too, folded tightly on my back.

The sudden realization made my blood turn to ice.

I was in a _straitjacket _in a _padded cell_.

"No," I whispered in disbelief. I struggled violently, but stopped when I heard someone come in. I didn't need them to know I was scared out of my (now very screwed-up) mind.

"Hello, Max."

I said nothing, but attempted to look as fierce as a person could in a straitjacket.

The doctor smiled, like everything was perfectly normal. "We had no choice but to bring you here. You were not cooperating."

"_Cooperating_? You were trying to _torture_ me!"

The doctor raised his eyebrows. "We were not. And the fact that you think we were is half the reason you're here. ECT was unsuccessful, so you will now have to have psychosurgery—brain surgery." He walked away before I could do or say anything.

Oh, God. If they had almost killed me with electroconvulsive therapy, what the hell would they do to me if they had full access to my _brain_?

There was no way out of here. Angry, scared, and devastated at my fate, I screamed. No one could hear me, right? I tried countless time to try and get out of the straitjacket, or escape the padded cell. It was impossible.

I did a lot of crying. I did a lot of sleeping, too. I know, it's weird. But it felt like sleeping was the only thing I had control over.

I had no idea how much time passed. Hours? Days?

The flock never came. Not that I expected them to, really. How would they find me? Or maybe they were dead now?

That last thought was a horrible one, so I hunted it down and stomped it dead. _No_. They weren't dead. And I wasn't going to die either. I could get out of this. I _would_ get out of this.

But how?

I remembered reading about a guy who had gotten out of a straitjacket by dislocating both his shoulders to get more slack, but I didn't think I was capable of doing that. Nor was I that desperate _yet_.

But the material was awfully flexible. Hm.

Suddenly more determined, I placed my elbow on the floor and by sheer strength I gradually forced it up toward my head. By further persistent straining, I eventually forced my head under my lower arm. So now both of my encased arms were in front of my body.

I nearly cried in relief. I was getting out of this!

With my teeth, I undid the buckles on the cuffs. My arms were free to move but still in the sleeves, so it was like I was wearing an overlong jacket. I undid the buckles at the back with my hands, and all but ripped the thing off.

I stood up shakily. My elbows had swelled up from being in the straitjacket for so long, and my shoulder, back, and neck muscles were so cramped that to unfurl my wings was excruciating. I forced myself to look around the cell, trying to find a way out.

I didn't have to think for long, because a doctor opened the door and came in. He seemed surprised to see me not only not in a straitjacket, but with my wings out plain as day. I jumped into the air—and stayed up. Kicking him out of the way, I managed to get out the door before he could stop me.

When I knew he was too far to catch up, I landed clumsily and started running instead.

Where, where, where was the flock?

I noticed the stairs we had attempted to escape from. Should I try to go down them again, or find another escape?

I decided to just keep running.

But after being in that straitjacket for so long, I felt clumsy, like I didn't know how to run for so long. My muscles still hurt—hurt in a way I'd never experienced before.

I saw a window, and I was so desperate to get out of here—to see the flock, to try and forget this place and what they had done to me—that I once again snapped out my wings and, covering my face with my arms, went through the window, sending glass flying.

Eventually I saw a forest. I landed next to a tree, exhausted and in pain and disoriented.

I was trembling way too much for me to enjoy my freedom or fall asleep. I just curled up next to the tree, motionless.

As you can see, I wasn't thinking straight. My brain was evidently fried.

"Max?"

I raised my head. Angel and Nudge were there, with the boys not far behind.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked, looking terrified.

I didn't say anything, because even I didn't know.

Angel didn't move, but she must have sent a thought to Fang because he suddenly appeared by my side with Gazzy and Iggy.

"You okay?" He asked.

I nodded.

"You look awful," He observed.

"Oh, thank you," I said, now feeling more like myself, "that's exactly what every girl wants to hear from a boy." Not that I was like other girls. Or other _human_s, for that matter.

But you get my point.

**

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****A/N: I know, I know, it seems like a weird place to end, but I have to finish this TONIGHT, because tomorrow my compute is getting disconnected to be brought to the new house (remember how I told you I was moving?) **

**Anyways, reviews would be cooo. ;)**

**Oh, and ****PLEASE ****REMEMBER TO ****VOTE ON THE POLL****, ****I NEED RESULTS ASAP****. I ONLY GOT TWO OTHER VOTES BESIDES MYSELF, AND THAT WAS JUST AT 'TESTING' KIND OF THING!!!**

**Thaaanks, guys. :D**


	11. Night Vision

"How long was I gone?" I asked.

"About four days," Fang answered, looking straight ahead.

I was surprised at this. I knew that I had had no idea how much time had passed, but when I said 'days', I was sort of exaggerating to myself. "Really? It only felt like a few hours."

"We probably could have found you earlier, but we didn't know where to start, because…" Angel trailed off, giving Nudge the opportunity to continue.

"…Because when we were trying to escape, you shouted. So we all turned around to see why you did, and as you kept running down the stairs, you just…vanished. Like, one second you were there, and then you just weren't. And the doctors disappeared, too."

There was a short silence.

"Okay, then. That's a bit screwy." I said flippantly. I wanted to seem calm, so that the flock wouldn't worry.

"Agreed." Total said.

We took off, and had been flying for a while before Nudge announced she was hungry.

I looked down. We were very conveniently hovering right above a restaurant.

"Okay, guys, we can eat here," I said.

We landed at the door and had just sat down when my stomach turned uncomfortably. It was the same sick feeling I had gotten back at Mom's house, right before I had saw the snake.

I stood up. "I-I'll be right back."

Walking shakily in the direction of the bathroom, I silently prayed not to get sick. I didn't need that right now.

I had just pushed open a stall when I heard a voice.

"Max?"

My heart stopped. Just for a second. I didn't die or anything, but there was definite heart stoppage going on. I didn't recognize the voice, so how did they know me? Heck, how did they even know I was in here?

I pressed myself against the farthest wall from the door, but it made no difference. I watched in horror as the lock slid open—with no one moving it.

A woman came in, and I assure you, I did _not_ know her.

I realized I was trapped in the stall; the only way I could get out is by walking right past the woman. My eyes darted to the floor. Maybe I could roll underneath the stall before she could even notice what I had done.

"Max, you have to listen--,"

"I don't know you," I said, steeling my voice, "and it's going to stay that way. Leave me alone."

"I don't have time to explain, but listen. You _must _get out of here."

I wasn't really listening to her; I was trying to find a way out. Maybe I could just barrel right through her, maybe I could hoist myself up on the stall walls to get leverage to kick, maybe--

She anxiously checked her watch before continuing, "In exactly three minutes, the restaurant's power will go out. You and your flock—yes, I know about your flock, don't give me that look—need to be out of here, _well_ out of here, before then."

The urgency in her voice made me consider that maybe she was dead serious, that this wasn't a trap, that I could trust her…

But that didn't mean I had lost sight of my natural instincts. Immediately I was skeptical. Narrowing my eyes, I asked, "How do you know--?"

"Now, Max!" She interjected sharply.

I nodded hastily and bolted out of the bathroom.

Fang, upon seeing my face, stood up.

"We need to leave, _now_." I said hurriedly.

"What's going--," Iggy started.

"I can't explain right now, because we _really have to go_!" I interrupted.

The flock all rushed around in a panic. I glanced at the clock. We had less than two minutes now.

"Go, go, go!" I cried. One minute.

We were just running to the door when we were plunged in darkness. The other people in the restaurant gasped and screamed in surprise and fear.

"What? No! We still had fifty more seconds!" I shrieked, as if the electricity would notice this mistake and come back on.

"Max, _what_ is your problem?" Fang asked from beside me.

"The woman said…no, that's not possible…we still had _time_…" I babbled breathlessly.

"Calm down, everything's fine." Fang said calmly. "You said you saw a woman?"

"Yeah, and she told me we had three minutes to…" I broke off suddenly.

We could all see perfectly well in the dark, and now, thanks to night vision goggles, so could five men dressed in black suits that had just entered the restaurant.

**

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**

**A/N: Just wanted to say, don't worry, guys. You're all reviewing and saying how you're confused and don't know what's happening to Max…trust me, ALL WILL BE REVEALED. ;) I've been doing jot notes and planning out this story since chapter 45 of 'The Sky Is Falling', so I'm not just going about willy-nilly and putting whatever I want in this story. **

**BTW, I'm not moved into my house yet, I just begged my mom to drive me to the new house 'cause we only have wireless here and not at my old house. Our first day moved in is Wednesday, so I'll try to update then. Sorry about the wait, guys! Please vote the poll! And please, please, please, please, **_**REVIEW!**_

_**Save the alpacas! ;)**_


	12. Target Locked

"Crap," I muttered, just as Fang noticed the men. "They're blocking our way."

"There must be another way out, though! Through the kitchen, maybe? Or just a fire exit?" Nudge asked desperately.

"Yes. But it's not like they don't know we're going to try to escape." I said, and after scanning the rest of the restaurant, my worst fears were confirmed. There were more men blocking the exits Nudge had suggested, all talking incomprehensibly into earpieces.

"They see us," Fang said in barely a whisper.

"I'm aware of that, thank you," I replied tersely.

One of the guys advanced toward us, and we all broke into a run.

I wracked my brain. _There's always a way out,_ I told myself, _there's always a plan_. There had to be at least one exit that they weren't blocking.

Memory flashed: There was a huge window in the girls' bathroom; I had seen it when I was trying to find an escape from the woman. I led them into it, but before we entered, Gazzy made a strangled noise and stopped short.

"Max, that's the girls' bathroom!" He said, appalled, as if I didn't already know that.

I resisted the urge to facepalm. "This isn't the time, Gaz!"

He reluctantly scrambled in after us.

There was no lock on the main door, so Fang and Iggy held it with all their strength as the men tried to get in.

I stood on a toilet and tried to force the window open. It clearly hadn't been opened for a long time, because it was stuck.

I finally managed to get it open, and ushered Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy through, before going in myself. I gave the smallest nod to Fang, who tapped Iggy on his hand and whispered directions to the window. It wasn't until we were all safely outside that Fang finally stopped leaning on the door and flew through as well.

I breathed a sigh of relief, before I saw a bullet whiz right at me.

"Shi—tzu," I covered my profanity quickly. "They've got guns! Look out!"

Then I noticed that they weren't trying to hit them. Just me. But I couldn't risk the bullets accidentally hitting my flock, so I had to find a way to get them…somewhere that wasn't here.

Or…

Maybe I could draw the creeps (with freaking _guns_) somewhere else. I looked down and saw a body of water beneath me. I angled downward and dived into the water without saying anything to my flock.

At first, when I hit the water, I held my breath before remembering I had gills. Smiling to myself, I continued to swim deeper, hoping the flock was okay and not worried about me.

Something compelled me to look behind, and I wouldn't have seen anything if it weren't for my raptor vision, but I did. And what I saw was not pleasant.

In the distance, I saw a torpedo shooting like an arrow through the water.

My eyes widening, I swam as fast as I could away, _far _away, from the torpedo.

As the torpedo hit something, an underwater whirlwind swept me up and threw me around the water, flipping me uncontrollably. I had been far enough away that the shockwave hadn't killed me, but it still did some damage. I hit a huge rock formation that caused me to…I dunno, breath in the water the wrong way, meaning instead of using my gills, I guess I had used my lungs or something. I inhaled so much water that on instinct I tried to cough, which basically just caused me to breathe in more water.

Panicking, I kicked my legs frantically, trying to surface, but since I was still doing a bad combination of trying to cough up water and inhale more, I couldn't concentrate. My brain seemed to be shutting down on me. So basically, I was experiencing myself drowning.

Not good.

Hands grabbed me roughly and yanked me up, and at first I was relieved like you have no idea. Then I saw that one of the men in black was the one who had saved me. He dropped me on dry land, and I coughed and hacked and gasped deep lungfuls of air gratefully.

I heard Fang calling my name, but it still sounded like I was underwater. So basically, the very little amount of water I hadn't swallowed was now plugging up my ears.

Jeez, when I screw up, I do it thoroughly.

Right away the guys grabbed me and started yelling at me.

"…Answer me!" One guy demanded.

I was so out of it at this point that I hadn't even heard him ask me anything. "Huh?" I asked oh-so-very-suavely.

"Did you remove confidential archives from Biotech?!" He repeated impatiently.

"Did I—? No! I didn't…"

_Smack._

My cheek stung where the guy had slapped me, apparently not appreciative of my answer.

"Don't touch her!" Fang yelled, above everyone else.

The guy laughed, and it was so happy, ordinary, and jolly, that it made me sick. "Why? Is she your _girlfriend_?" He sneered.

Fang took another step forward. "Yeah, she is, actually." He growled.

I struggled to keep my face impassive, and hoped no one, especially Fang, noticed my cheeks heat. The flock's faces mirrored the emotions that hopefully weren't too clearly written on my face.

The guy, surprised by his answer, dropped me, and I stood up.

Looking at all six of us carefully, he spoke. "You deny taking anything?"

"Yes." I said honestly.

He picked up Iggy's backpack and started going through it. Then Fang glanced at me, and I suddenly remembered.

I had put my file that I had found at Biotech _in Iggy's backpack_.

**

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**

**A/N: Please bear with me. I have no idea if that's really how torpedoes work, and I tried to research but couldn't really find anything. Sorry!**

**R**eally

**E**njoy

**V**iewing

**I**nteresting

**E**xplanations

**W**ith your thoughts on the story!!


	13. Speed Limit

Fang and I stood there, torn between grabbing the backpack out of his hands rather violently, or still attempting to look like the picture of innocence.

The guy pulled out the file triumphantly, along with a couple of Iggy's handmade bombs.

Which all added up to six bird kids totally screwed.

The guy shoved the file in my face. "This was absolutely confidential! You had absolutely no business to read this, let alone steal it from Biotech!"

"It had my name on it. Doesn't that make it my business?" I asked calmly. "And how did you know that it was in that backpack?"

The man threw his hands up, as if to say, "I give up". Another younger guy put a hand on his shoulder and stepped forward.

"Agent Lavelle." He introduced himself. "We have reason to believe that you witnessed the helicopter crash a few weeks ago."

The one that had happened after the dog had chewed up my leg. The one that Angel knew was going to happen.

"We didn't witness anything." I lied, but I made a mistake. As I said it, my gaze flickered away from his eyes and to Angel. He saw this and knew I wasn't being honest.

"We need you to tell the truth." He said quietly.

"Why do you even want to know?" I demanded.

"These bombs"—he held up the ones from Iggy's backpack—"are identical to the ones used to cause the helicopter explosion."

"Okay, well, congratulations on your little kindergarten detective act. I still don't understand why this made your buddy over there nearly pop a blood vessel. We didn't witness any explosion. Yeah, maybe we took a file, but that's all you can accuse us of. Big fat freaking deal."

Agent Lavelle stared straight into my eyes, and I did all I could to stare right back. "Are you taking care of all these kids yourself?" He pointed to my flock.

"We all take care of each other," I said, steel in my voice.

"But you're the oldest?"

"Yes."

"And how old are you?"

"Why does it matter?"

The guy who had questioned me before fired his gun into the air angrily. "Answer—the—question!" He screamed, his face turning purple.

"Fine. Whatever keeps your brains from splattering all over us." I said evenly, and the man got even angrier.

Agent Lavelle repeated his question. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

He nodded to my other flock members. I sighed, pointing out each of them as I said their ages. "Fourteen, fourteen, eleven, six, and eight."

"I'm seven," Angel corrected me.

"Whatever," I muttered.

He sighed. "We know you were being treated for schizophrenia, and were actually reduced to having to be in a padded cell and straitjacket."

I stared at him, my face like stone.

"With your…condition, I don't think you should be taking care of all these children. Especially since you're only fifteen."

"Are you telling me you're trying to take my family away from me?" I demanded in disbelief.

He nodded grimly. "I'm sorry. Only until you're cured."

"No. You will not touch _anyone_ in my flock."

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Here's a compromise: Don't bother doing it at all." I snarled.

I knew one way to get out of this, but I wasn't sure if I would risk it. I could tell them that we were being taken care of by my mom.

"You're dangerous, Max. You don't want to put your family at risk, do you?"

"I'm not dangerous."

"That's not what Biotech is saying. They've been putting wanted posters everywhere. They think you're a threat, not just because of your schizophrenia."

"Then why?"

He held up a picture. "Did you or did you not kill this man?"

The picture was of the whitecoat I had shot. When Brigid had demanded I shoot Fang.

My jaw tightened. "I did not." I said through clenched teeth.

He shook his head sadly, like he was disappointed that I had lied. He was a pretty good actor, clearly. "I'm sorry," He repeated, "but it looks like it would be everyone's best interest if we got someone to take care of these kids for a while."

"No--!" I started, as I felt someone tug my arms behind me.

I struggled, trying to get out of the guy's grip, and watched in horror as they took Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel, all three of them also thrashing around, and shoved them into a car.

I screamed furiously.

Fang and Iggy leaped into the air and spread out their wings before the men in black could grab them. They took off after the car.

Agent Lavelle and the other guy who needed anger management forced me into a car, too.

"We need to ask you some questions," Lavelle said casually.

_Well, I'm not going to answer them, _I thought defiantly.

I saw—farther ahead than a normal person could see—Fang and Iggy flying after the car the three kids were in.

Fang dropped down on the roof of the car, and the driver swerved, trying to shake him off. Iggy circled overhead, then suddenly also dropped down, kicking the windshield.

_Oh, God, be careful, _I begged them silently.

Have you ever been in a car accident? You know how things seem to go slowly? How you have time to think a hundred things in one second? That's how it felt right then for me.

As if Fang had read my thoughts, his head suddenly snapped to my car, and I saw the look on his face. Fright.

All the windows were tinted, so he didn't see the questioning look on my face.

For some reason, I was in the front with Agent Lavelle, and the Mr. Anger Management was in the backseat. Why was that?

The speedometer was practically screaming, "Slow the hell down, you crazy lunatic!"

A semi was heading right for the car in front of us. And that car had Fang on top of it, Iggy on the windshield, and the three kids sitting in the backseat.

And when it's small car + big semi, the big semi's always going to win.

All these thoughts flashed through my head as I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed as loud as I could.


	14. Prey Runs

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews!!**

**You guys will be surprised when you find out what's **_**really**_** going on in this story…my friend who is reading this knows, and she was blown. Away. Muahahahhaa!**

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I waited for the sound of crushing metal, of squealing breaks, of people yelling.

None of those happened.

I opened my eyes and saw the car, completely totaled. But there had been no sound. And the semi was gone.

Fang and Iggy had also disappeared. My insides turned to ice. Where were they? And were the three kids alright?

Our car slowed down, but before it even came to a complete stop I opened the door and jumped out.

"Report!" I yelled hopefully.

Gazzy and Angel appeared, looking perfectly fine.

"We're good. The others are over here," said Gazzy. Relief flooded through me.

When I saw them, I gave each of them a hug, including Angel and Gazzy.

"Let's get out of here before these guys notice." I said, jerking a thumb toward the men in black, who were talking to a police officer.

We flew a little ways, and settled down somewhere to sleep.

It was Iggy's watch, and Fang and I went to go find more wood for the fire.

"So, what happened?" I asked.

Fang, using his famous Twilight Zone-y voice, said, "We saw the semi disappear. And then everything sort of went black, and--"

"You knew you hadn't gone unconscious? But then when everything materialized again, you were somewhere else? And it felt like you had sort of teleported?" I guessed grimly.

He nodded.

"Happened to me when we were trying to escape Biotech." I said. "You know, when you saw me disappear."

"Do you think it's Itex doing this?"

I shrugged. "Maybe Biotech and Itex work together, or something."

"Didn't the Voice say something about a Hydra once?" Fang asked suddenly.

I nodded, bending down to pick up a stick for the fire.

"Mr. Butler died. You thought he was the heart of the problem. But if he wasn't…"

"…then two more Itex plants grew in its place." I finished, straightening up. "And Mr. Butler committed suicide. And if Mr. Butler wasn't the heart, and just another head, he killed himself so that Itex would grow! He had been planning it all along. He _knew_ you guys would fix the generator. He _knew_ I wouldn't die."

"Now all we have to find out is _how_ he knew." Fang said.

I was about to say something when Fang held up his hand, signaling for me to be quiet and listen.

I could hear crunching leaves and twigs, getting closer.

Then I saw it.

A cougar close enough for us to pet.

And if I could touch this cougar, then, logically, it could touch us.

This was bad. Very, very bad.

With its back arched, the cat hissed.

I was growing frustrated with my inability to think of some mutually-agreeable solution to this little impasse in which kitty, Fang, and I had found ourselves in. We could back off, but I wasn't sure if that would be taken as a sign of weakness, or of flight. I knew I couldn't make a run for it, because that's what it was looking for, something it understood. Prey runs.

But I also couldn't just stand there and do nothing, because that obviously wasn't getting us anywhere. Hey! Weren't we supposed to fall to the ground in a ball, head tucked between my knees, so as to protect our internal organs from the slashing, tearing claws and teeth of the…no wait, that's grizzly bears.

Damn.

When the brain fails, or so they say, the body takes over. Unfortunately, my body had only experienced things like this with barking dogs. Pick up a stone, or even just pretend to pick up a stone, and the dog cuts short its attack, fearing the impact of the flung rock. Being the only thing I could think of, I reached down to pick up an imaginary stone.

"Max, no--" Fang started.

The cougar, seeing the chance to break the stalemate, swiped at me with a paw the size of a football, hitting me on the left elbow with its rock-hard pad. I fell backwards.

It jumped over me, and then turned to face me, advancing slowly.

I scrambled to my feet and turned, but the cougar pounced on me, knocking me to the ground.

I knew what happened now. I knew that once a cougar jumped on your back (aiming for your neck to very elegantly kill you), it was all over.

Fang lurched toward the cat, but stopped when we heard a gunshot.

The cat went limp on top of me.

I scrambled out from underneath it.

"Well, what are the odds?" A woman's voice said. Brigid, I realized, just as she stepped out from behind a tree. "Both of you together, in the same place, at the _same time_, as me." She put emphasis on 'same time', though I didn't really understand why. "And quite an entertaining show, too. Max nearly getting killed by an oversized kitty-cat."

She had serious problems if she could look that thing straight in the _fangs _and still call it a kitty-cat.

"Brigid?" I said in surprise. "But Fang said you had to leave us alone."

"Fang said, and I quote, 'Brigid, never come see our flock again. Leave us alone.' But technically, you two came and found _me_. I wasn't following you. And I've also been taught that when my master is in trouble, I have to help." She said.

"How the hell did she find a loophole like that?' Fang muttered.

"How the hell did she find a _gun_ like that?" I murmured back, jerking my head slightly to the huge rifle in her hand. "Don't they have, like, laws about giving guns to psychopathic under-age scientists?"

Suddenly, Brigid disappeared, and then reappeared behind me.

Talk about a WTF moment.

"So, we seem to have a bit of a problem, here, don't we?"

"Well, we didn't. Then you plagued us with your presence." I said bitterly.

"I meant that you know a little too much for our liking. You were supposed to be dead by now, anyway, but those stupid doctors clearly didn't know anything."

I snuck a glance at Fang, who returned it. If she said, we 'knew too much', clearly we had been on the right track when we had been talking earlier.

"They were real doctors?" I asked.

She snorted. "I don't blame you for being surprised. There were sad excuses. Dr. Hartley wasn't a real doctor, of course. But I'm sure you already guessed that."

I just glared at her.

"Now, I'm no spoilsport. And you know I like to have fun as much as the next person. So let's make this interesting. I'll give you both a running start. Then I'll shoot you. I don't mind a moving target." She laughed heartily. "And it's just like you said, Max." She paused dramatically. "Prey runs."

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**A/N: Cliffy, again. (: You know you love 'em. **

**Reviews, PLEAASE!!!!**

**Come on guys, I wrote you an accrostic poem two chapters ago! Do you have any idea how long that took me to make?!**

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**K. Review, then. I'll be waiting anxiously for them!! At this computer. All day. And all night. Until you review. :D**


	15. Face Off

**A/N: I'm really sorry about not updating, guys. In all honesty, I was waiting for more reviews!!! So please review!**

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I hadn't said that out loud, had I? No, I was sure it had just been a thought. But how did Brigid know? Could she read my mind?

I also noticed we had hit _another_ impasse. We couldn't run; Brigid had quoted me: prey always ran. We couldn't show we were the victims, that we were weaker than her. That we were _scared_ of her.

I thought about attacking her. But she had a gun. Bullets always conquer fists.

Brigid rolled her eyes impatiently. "So, are you gonna run? Or just force me to kill you here and ruin all the fun?"

I narrowed my eyes at her but stayed rooted to the spot, stalling. Slowly, Fang opened my hand, but I didn't dare look down and draw attention to whatever he was doing. He dropped something into my palm and I closed my hand tightly into a fist, trying to find out what it was.

A large, sharp stone, it felt like.

Fang must have known what my earlier plan had been and thought it could apply here. The only problem was, I only had one chance. If I missed, she would probably—no, _definitely_—respond by starting on a shooting rampage.

Faster than she could react, I lifted my hand and chucked the rock as hard as I could. It hit her square in the jaw, tearing a chunk from her cheek, and when she looked back, the wound was spurting blood.

She spit something out that looked like teeth, and I came up close to her to try and break her nose, but she got there first and slammed her hand into my chin. My head snapped back and everything went fuzzy for a moment as I staggered backward.

Brigid roared angrily, grabbed my upper arm and jerked me back—it must've been her position or something, but my left shoulder completely ripped out of its socket. I tried not to flinch in any way, even though I had so much adrenaline that it wouldn't hurt until after the fight.

_It's just pain, _I told myself, _there's always pain, you knew there would be pain. Pain is just a message. _

Holding my left arm close to my body, I tried to kick her. She caught my leg, but I used the other one and swung it at her head. She fell, dropping her gun. I fell also when she let go of my leg, and tried to keep my bad shoulder from hitting the ground. Fang snatched the gun and held it to Brigid, as I scrambled to my feet.

"You're not going to shoot me, Fang," She said, smiling, but I saw horror flash across her face for a nanosecond.

"How do you know?" He said flatly.

I smile brightly. "See, Brigid, there's something you have to remember: You are the bad guy. We are the good guys. I know it _is_ cliché, but the good guys always win. Sorry." I made sure the fake cheer and enthusiasm in my voice was very easy to hear. I kicked her, and her head snapped to the side before she went limp.

I had planned to unfurl my wings and fly away, but my shoulder was sort of preventing me from that. So I had to knock her out instead.

Don't you hate it when dislocated shoulders ruin your badass dramatic exits and cause you to hurt someone more than necessary?

As we were walking back to the rest of the flock, I kept glancing at Fang. His jaw was tight, and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. It looked like he was restraining himself from going back and snapping Brigid's neck.

"I'm assuming you're pissed off," I finally said after a few minutes of silence. The pain was finally coming, and I tried my best to ignore it.

"Your assumption would be correct." His voice was still a monotone.

"Would you relax?"

"No."

"I'm fine." I insisted.

"You're not fine."

"How do you know?"

"I believe we've established a few times that I know everything."

"And I believe we've also established that I. Am. _Fine_."

"I don't remember establishing that."

"_I_ do."

"Maybe you're hallucinating again."

"Maybe you're being stupid."

"Maybe I am."

"Sweet, so we agree on something." Instinctively, I went to cross my arms over my chest, but winced in pain as that hurt my shoulder. Rolling my eyes, I began to walk away angrily from Fang, but tripped over a log and managed to catch myself with one hand as I almost fell face first into the mud. I straightened up, and attempted to look dignified.

One side of Fang's mouth twitched.

I narrowed my eyes.

He smirked and chuckled.

"That was not funny," I said sternly, even though I was now struggling to keep a straight face.

"It was kind of funny."

"How was that funny?" I demanded.

"You hurt yourself during your Max Pose, and then fell when you tried to do the 'charging off' thing."

My smile disintegrated. "Okay. First of all, I don't have a 'Max pose'. Second--" I cut off in the middle of my protest (how many times, honestly, have I said that I don't _charge off_?!) when I heard Nudge yelling.

"We're right here!" I called back.

The rest of the flock appeared out of the shadows, Angel looking horribly frustrated.

"Hey," I said causally, keeping my left arm close and waving with my right hand.

"Why are you holding your arm like that?" asked Nudge.

"Little scuffle with Brigid. I'm good." I said, the smile reappearing again to reassure her.

"She dislocated her shoulder." Fang said.

"But I'm fine." I reminded him through my now more obviously forced smile.

Fang rolled his eyes.

"We'll have to try and pop it into place, though, won't we? Because you can't fly like that." said Iggy.

"Yeah." I went over in my mind how Jeb had done it when I had dislocated my shoulder sparring when we were still at the E house. Unfortunately, he had relocated my shoulder by distracting me form what he was doing, so I couldn't remember. "It's convenient…" My voice faltered as I noticed something.

When Brigid and I had been fighting, she had been faster than me, like the whole thing had been choreographed. Like she had known what I was doing before I did it.

"_I came up close to her to try and break her nose, but she got there first and slammed her hand into my chin." _I had even noticed at the time that she had been prepared. Which meant…

"I think someone on Brigid's side has precognition." I said abruptly. "That's how Brigid knew where we were, and that's how she knew that dislocating my shoulder would prevent me from flying. And that's how they knew where we were when we were trying to escape Biotech."

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****Don't forget to review! Right now, I am giving you a guilt trip. I hope it worked. And if you review right now, I'll totally forgive you for not reviewing last time. Totally. You know what, if you review, next chapter is dedicated to you. Anyone who reviews is getting the chapter dedicated to them. So review! **

**P.S., have you noticed that chapter 15 for both my stories had a fight 'scene'? That was totally coincidental. I just noticed it now. But this fight scene's more important to the story, though.**


	16. Secret Weapon

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to (awesomely, this is a longer list):**

**Grenna-Chae**

**midnightmockingjay**

**TaylorTyper**

**Ms. Adorable and Rose**

**Colorful Catastrophe**** (love that penname, by the way ;))**

**ColdRootBeer**

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"Max, Max! You're wanted!" Gazzy yelled upon landing.

"Uh, what?" I asked, standing up. Since my shoulder was still screwed up, I couldn't fly, and therefore had to stay behind (though Nudge and Angel agreed to stay with me) while the boys had gone to get food in the nearest town.

Fang handed me a flyer.

It was a picture of me.

In a straitjacket and in a padded cell.

Looking like the complete lunatic I probably deserved to be.

Basically, it said I was 'wanted', and there was a reward if I was sighted. It had descriptions of the rest of my flock, saying I was probably with them, but only I was dangerous. It accused me of killing a man…The whitecoat I had shot, if you want to get into specifics.

And that I had blown up a helicopter. Which was a lie. I shoot scientists. Not blow up motorized vehicles. _Duh_.

People these days…

"Is my face on milk cartons, too?" I asked with mock excitement.

"This is sort of really bad." Nudge said.

"Not entirely. I mean, this picture of me isn't half bad. The straitjacket really brings out the crazed look in my eyes." I balled up the flyer and threw it on the ground, before going through my backpack and finding a long piece of cloth. I fashioned it into a sling, and spread my wings.

Then I heard the thunder.

There was something about that thunder, the way it rumbled underneath my feet and shivered through my body, knocking the breath out of my lungs, something strange. Something familiar.

I stopped moving. Stopped breathing. Stared straight ahead, at nothing.

The world around me seemed to fade. Nothing was important; nothing mattered. I could relax. I could float away from my body; give up control.

Soon the order would come, tell me what to do next, and I would obey.

I waited.

Angel warily touched my arm.

And then the order came. And even though it was my body, it didn't feel like it. I felt like I was watching from a mile away, seeing_ it_—a monster—hurting my baby.

My (no, _Its_) hand snapped out, grabbed Angel and threw her into a tree.

Angel shrieked.

A little part of this…thing, a little part that was still _me,_ wanted to kick It (me?) in Its (my?) shin and go help Angel.

But the monster part of this body still overpowered it.

Jesus, my life is _so_ screwy.

It whipped around to face Angel and lurched forward.

She shielded her head and stared at It in complete terror.

Fang grabbed my shoulders, yanked me backward, and for one horrible, sick moment, It considered just decking him and finishing off Angel.

But then I gained control of my own body again. My legs turned weak and gave in, making me fall to the ground.

"Angel," I choked. She just stared at me. I turned to Fang, who was still holding my shoulders, staring at me expressionlessly. "It wasn't me…I didn't…Angel, you knew it wasn't me, right?"

She hesitated. "I can't read your mind anymore."

That explained everything.

It was genius, really.

Someone—Itex, more than likely, had taken control of my brain. Was screwing with my mind, my body, and they had gotten Angel blocked out.

So that she couldn't read my mind.

So that she couldn't trust me.

So that Itex could get the flock out of the picture and focus on destroying the world without anyone stopping them. And _I_ was now their weapon—I was dangerous.

And _that _was phase one.

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**A/N: I apologize for the long wait.**

**C'mon people, I got 67 hits for chapter 15—AND ONLY FIVE REVIEWS?!?!**

**REEEWWIIIEEW, PLLEEEAAASSEE!!!!!!!!**

_**Press the button!!!!**_

**\/**


	17. Time Flies

**A/N: **_**FANG COMES OUT TOMORROW!!! YEEEEEEE! :D**_

**Here comes a seriously MAJOR** **chapter. Most of the answers to this story are found here, but not all. Those come later ;) **

**Enjoy!**

**BTW: You may have noticed I changed the chapter names. Again. Please excuse me and my ever-changing mind. I think this will be the last time. At the end of this chapter, review and tell me if you noticed/ understood the hidden pun in this chapter's name. I was pretty proud of it. :P**

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The more times I played this 'phase one' in my head, the more it made sense.

As I sat in the dark, waiting to fall asleep like the rest of the flock had hours ago, I also saw the choice I had: I could kill myself, or let Them exterminate me after I'd killed everyone else.

To me, it seemed like a no-brainer. Take only my life, or take others' lives with me. And I wasn't going to be selfish here. If I had to cease to exist in the world in order to _save_ it, then so be it.

But how was thatsupposed to play out?

_Oh, hey, by the way, I'm going to go kill myself, guys! _

And the flock would, what? Say, "have fun" and then go back to sleep like nothing happened?

Right.

Carefully, I stood up and shook Fang awake.

"Do you remember what you promised me back at Anne's house?" I asked him, and when I touched my face, I was surprised when it came back wet. For once, I wish we couldn't see so well in the dark. I didn't want Fang to notice I was crying. "That if I turned into something bad, you'd deal with it?"

He shook his head, not to say he didn't remember, but to say he wasn't going to do what I was implying.

"But I'm bad." I said weakly, and then sunk down to the ground and started sobbing.

Fang grabbed my arm, pulled me up, and carefully wrapped his arms around me.

"You promised," I whispered, crying into his chest like the pathetic loser I was. "You said you'd do what had to be done."

"There's nothing that needs to be done here,"

"Angel could've gotten killed."

"But she didn't, because _you_ gained control again. You're obviously stronger than whatever's trying to run you."

"This time I was. It could get worse,"

"There's still no way in hell that you of all people could become one of Them."

I ignored that.

"Look, Max, you know I care about you," He whispered.

I resisted the urge to drop my jaw in astonishment. Though, apparently I was his _girlfriend_, and I had told him I _loved_ him, it probably shouldn't have been much of a surprise. "I care about you, too," I said back, my crying more silent now.

"Then why are you asking me to hurt you?"

I looked down at the ground. "I care about you." I repeated.

He half-smiled.

I sighed. "Things are getting too…weird. I just wish we could go back in time and--" I choked on my words, and my eyes grew wide as I thought back to everything weird that had happened.

How Arianna had attacked me when we were back in Africa so long ago, then appeared out of nowhere and pinned me down.

How Mr. Butler knew what was going to happen that whole time.

How Brigid emphasized, "same time".

How I had woken up in the padded cell, and four days had passed, even though it only felt like a few hours.

"I don't think it's precognition that Brigid's side has. It's…the ability to _time travel._" I said.

Fang eyes widened slightly. "Holy crap."

I nodded. "So our new mission is to find Arianna. I think she knows how this time travel stuff works."

"There's no need to find me," said Arianna, jumping to the ground from a tree. "I knew you'd figure it out sooner or later."

I smiled. "You need to tell us--"

"I know," She interrupted. "Okay, so I'm not completely sure how it works exactly, but I'll tell you what I know.

"My dad was working on the concept of time travel for a while. The thing is, this kind of time travel doesn't work the way it does in movies. You can only go up to a few days in time, and when you are in the process of being in the future, you can't change anything. You can't interfere with what is happening, or else it messes up the present, which messed up the past, which messes up the future, which is what your in, so therefore you'd get sucked back to the present like you never travelled to the future to begin with, which fixes the future, which means you can re-travel back to it…well, it's really confusing. And hard to explain. But you see what I mean. You can't screw with it when you're travelling. Apart from for one really odd exception. But we'll get to that in a sec.

"Anyway, my dad has this generator—which is sort of like the one he used to make the sky fall—that he keeps at Biotech…and no, I don't know where, Max, so get that look off your face and that thought out of your head. The generator creates a Tachyon field. Tachyons are particles that move at the speed of light. Google it if you want. People say no particle can move at the speed of light, but my dad has discovered one. The particles move so fast that they can create a sort of time machine.

"When the tachyons make a field that you can travel through, they call it a Wormhole. Max, when you were on the stairs, you accidently entered a Wormhole. So did your flock when the semi almost hit them. When you enter a Wormhole, everything sort of dissolves, you know you haven't gone unconscious, and you feel like you have teleported. Sound familiar?" Arianna winked.

"You know how you saw the same stairs when you were back at your Mom's house? I was trying to plant a thought in your head. Trying to warn you not to go down those stairs. What I did was very dangerous, since I could have screwed with time, and all that stuff I said earlier.

"And then there was the woman you saw in the bathroom. I found it pretty funny that you said you didn't recognize her at all, when there is no one you could know more. That was _you_, Max. The future you."

I blinked in complete mystification.

"That was the exception I was talking about. You managed to go back to the past to talk to…well, yourself. And the Wormhole your flock passed through wasn't there…until you screamed. My theory is that you, Max, have the ability to control tachyonic fields."

Again with me blinking in incomprehension.

"I don't know anything about you being used as a weapon, blah, blah, blah…But something serious is going to happen, Max. Have you ever thought about what would happen if time no longer existed in the world? Well, Itex and Biotech have. And they're going to destroy the world by _removing the concept of time_. Without time, nothing would 'happen'. And since everything depends on time, if it didn't exist, neither would anything else. You can't have a universe without time. It's pretty much impossible to wrap your mind around the idea. And that's what makes it so scary."

**

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****A/N 2: I apologize for the confusion of the chapter. I tried as best as I could to explain. If you have any questions, review or PM me and I'll try to answer them. **

**Okay, so, to clear things up, the whole tachyon and wormhole thing, you can actually Google. However, you may notice that the facts are not the same as what I have put. I sort of just based my own ideas on the facts. Sort of made things up myself as well as used research. Go ahead, call me a genius, I'll hold for applause. Just kidding. **_**Anyways, R&R, please**_**?**

**HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE BESIDES ME HAVE AN ALARM SET ON THEIR PHONE THAT WILL GO OFF AT 12 AM TOMORROW WITH A MESSAGE THAT SAYS, "**_**FANG, FANG, FANG!!!!**_**"?**

**Just me? I wouldn't be surprised. **

**Paayceout,**

**-Carly (:**


	18. Family Matters

**A/N: WTF, WTF, WTF, WTF??!!!! Stupid Dylan.**

**Stupid JP.**

**STUPID FANG.**

**I'M JUST KIDDING! I LOVE YOU JP AND FANG!**

**I don't want to ruin the book if you haven't read it (but I have, clearly. :P), but I suggest we just pretend my version was the real one ;). Just kidding. But, obviously, book 6 screwed up my fanfiction; so, ****let's say that this story ignores the sixth book****. And, I guess, technically, picks up to the seventh book, since it's a sequel to **_**The Sky Is Falling**_**…well, that's screwy…**

**Anyways, enough of my rambling. Enjoy!**

* * *

We were planning on going back to Biotech, but Arianna had insisted that we go back to my mom's first. She said it was so Mom could fix my shoulder, but I'm no bird-brain.

Pardon the pun, I just couldn't resist.

Fang and I filled the rest of the flock in on the whole time-travel stuff on the way there, and they seemed more weirded out than us.

When we landed, the door opened, but instead of revealing Mom or Ella, a man was standing there, smiling at me like he knew me his whole life.

"Who the hell are you?" I snarled, praying to every holy being I've ever heard of that he wasn't who (or rather, what) I thought he was.

"His name's Osmond Sinclair," Angel answered, not taking her narrowed eyes off of him.

I clung onto my last hope, my last retreat to denial: He was just a hallucination. Biotech was screwing with my mind again. "Why are you here? Where's Mom?" I demanded.

Just then Mom came out. "Max," She said breathlessly. "You've met Ozzy."

My mom had a pet name for him?

_Oh, almighty God, if you exist, please kill me now._

"Yeah. We've met him. That was where we made our first mistake." I said sourly.

My mom gave me a harsh look/_glare_ that could kill newborn puppies in two seconds flat.

Then, my worst fears were confirmed. She took his hand.

They. Were. _Together_.

I will pause here to give you a moment to _puke._

Done?

Okay, let's move on.

Even though I had assumed this all along, it still felt like a punch to the gut, times, like, a million.

I forced a smile (not successfully, but it's the thought that counts, right?), and said, "Good for you, Mom. I'm, uh…really happy for you." Then I turned to Dear Old Osmond, narrowed my eyes, and walked up so close to him that our noses were touching. "You're damn lucky to have my mom." I whispered maliciously through clenched teeth. "And if you don't act like it…well, I'd really love to read your obituary."

Fang put his arm around my shoulders and steered me away.

"I can apparently control time, right? Do you think I could bring a Tyrannosaurus Rex to come and chew off Mom's new beau's head?" I whispered.

"No," said Fang.

"You're no fun."

* * *

If I didn't love my mom, I probably would have lunged at her with some sort of weapon. The googly eyes were getting old. And, honestly, they were _adults_, not high-school-sweethearts or something.

"So, Max, I hear you have wings." Osmond said during dinner.

Gazzy made a finger pistol and pretended to shoot himself in the head.

"Yep. That would be those feathery things connected to our shoulder blades that you saw when we landed right in front of you." I said evenly.

He smiled. "Birdwatchers must love you."

My jaw dropped. Iggy choked on whatever he had been in the middle of consuming.

What a huge _butthead_.

I stood up slowly, gripping the table. The rest of the flock stood up, also. "No, not especially," I said through my agonizingly fake grin. Then I turned to Mom, my smile disappearing for instead a look of disgust. "He's a keeper." I rolled my eyes to keep them from filling with tears.

I ran upstairs to Ella's room, and flung myself on the bed.

This was crazy. My mom didn't need someone like him in her life. And if he wasn't even treating anyone nicely, why was she dating him?

Mom never came up.

Mom never even said anything to her stupid boy-creature.

Mom obviously didn't care.

I wished I could say I didn't, either.


	19. Brain Teased

So that night, when no one came to bother me, which I was thankful for (I guess Ella slept somewhere else), what did I do?

I practiced.

What did I practice, you may ask?

My Tachyon field-conjuring skills, of course.

I stood in the middle of the room and focused. Closed my eyes, held my breath, and put all my thoughts into making a field that I didn't even know the characteristics of. Was it a rainbow? A black hole? Dunno.

I checked the time on the alarm clock. Eleven o'clock PM, same as before. I checked the watch on my wrist. It was the exact same time.

I hadn't travelled.

I tried again—but paused first. What had made this possible the last time? I had screamed. But I had also been so worried and desperate for my flock to be okay. Maybe for this to work, I had to really _want_ it. Really feel passionate about it.

I put all the emotions I felt and channeled them towards making this field.

The world dissolved. It materialized with me in my mom's room.

I checked her alarm clock. It said 11:10.

Yes!

I checked my watch. As I had assumed, since _I_ was wearing this watch, and I was from the 'past', so to speak, the watch kept the time of the time I had been in when I had made the field. So the watch said 11:01.

I had travelled nine minutes into the future. _Nine minutes_! Sure, it wasn't much, but it was _something_!

I almost jumped for joy when I heard footsteps.

Crap, crap, crap!

If this person saw me, it would screw up the future, and then that huge circle of events Arianna had explained. They would see this me, and then the future me, and it would just be…very bad.

I froze where I was, just outside my mom's room, before my brain got out of "_oh crap" _mode and went into "_do something!"_ mode.

I turned to go back to my Mom's room, but slipped and fell to the floor with a _thump_.

I clapped a hand over my mouth as the footsteps stopped in hesitation.

_Now would be a really handy time to make another Tachyon field. _

But I was too freaked out and jumpy to focus.

As the person walked into the light, I saw who it was.

Osmond.

He stopped where he was, pulled out a laptop and started typing things in.

And, call me crazy, but the fact that he was doing this in secret, where no one would catch him, made me think it wasn't exactly a grocery list he was typing up.

Now, I had relaxed enough to try and make the field. And it worked.

I was back in Ella's room; the time on both the alarm clock and the watch was 11:02.

I had less than ten minutes till Osmond went off in secret with his laptop.

And I was going to catch him in the act.

***

I checked my watch again, just as I heard Ozzy walk by.

From my spot in Mom's room, I stepped out in front of him.

"Hello, Osmond." I said brilliantly, like I spent all my time hiding in Mom's room at eleven o'clock at night, spying on her significant other. Who was he to judge me, anyway?

He whirled around, and when he saw me, he didn't look shocked. He just looked…proud. Or pleasantly surprised.

"Max, I didn't realize you figured it out already."

I narrowed my eyes. "What's that supposed to--?" I began, and then stopped as a razor-sharp pain shot through my head. I fell with a strangled cry, holding my head.

I recognized this pain. It was the one that had happened to me when the Voice had first started talking to me.

But the Voice was gone now, as far as I knew. So what was causing this unbearable pain? Was Osmond doing this?

I wanted to tell him to make it stop, even if he wasn't causing it. But when I opened my mouth, a scream of pain escaped instead.

Fang came out of his room, summoned by my scream, followed by the rest of the flock.

"What are you doing to her?" Fang yelled, pushing Osmond away from me.

"It's not me!" Osmond insisted.

Fang put his hands on both sides of my face. "Max, are you okay?"

Yes, Fang, I'm just peachy. I may be giving mixed signals, but I'm actually having the best time of my life at the moment.

Just then, we heard the door bang open, and Dr. Hartley appeared with a few other doctors form Biotech, looking victorious. One of the doctors threw a net over me, and I was too weak and in too much pain to do anything but struggle uselessly.

The flock tried to pull me out, as I heard Nudge accuse, "You sent them didn't you?"

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Osmond pull out a gun…and point it at Hartley. "Get out before I shoot."

"Sinclair," greeted Hartley coldly, "I didn't realize you were put on guard here."

"My missions are none of your business," Osmond said evenly, as the flock finally managed to untangle me from the net.

"Why were you up in the middle of the night on your laptop?" I demanded weakly, trying to sit up.

Osmond looked surprised. "I never had a laptop. I got up to go to the washroom."

Hartley laughed. "So my Neurological Manipulation has been a great success."

I remembered how my file had said _N. Manip. _I realized now that that must have stood for "neurological manipulation".

"It was you," I said, my voice stronger now. "You're controlling me."

"I am, but don't have to be. Mind over matter, Maximum." He said.

Stupid villains and their brain teasers.


	20. Wise Words

**A/N: Me updating on Easter just shows how much of a freaking friendless loser I am. (:**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Maximum Ride. But I'm working on it. **

**I own a lot of chocolate at the moment, though...and a giant kinder surprise. :D**

* * *

At one point, Osmond got Hartley to leave. I stayed where I was, lying on the floor after feeling too weak to sit up.

"Stupid little…" Osmond muttered.

"You're not…with them?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I was sent here only to protect you. I'm not even dating Valencia."

That was probably the best news I'd heard in a while. "Who sent you?"

"The men in black, as you call them. The ones who tried to get you in the restaurant."

I narrowed my eyes. "But they shot a torpedo at me."

Osmond shook his head. "No. They saved you _from_ the torpedo. Do you really think we'd shoot the torpedo, and then drag you out of the water? Oh, and the whole getting mad about the file thing? That was just an excuse to get to you. It's what we told Itex to convince them that we were on their side.

"We know all about what happened to you and what they're doing to you. At the restaurant, when the future you appeared to the present you, she—I mean, _you_—cameto us first. Future you warned us that people from Itex were about to knock off the power to try and capture the present you and your flock again. So we came, took out the Itex people, but they had for some reason turned the power on a little earlier. I think Brigid told them that the future you had come to warn the present you, so they tried to speed things up."

I nodded slowly, absorbing all this. "But, she—I mean, future me, messed with time. Messed with the past. Isn't that…sort of dangerous?"

Osmond shook his head. "That was future you's main purpose. Basically, you travelled automatically, since if you hadn't, there would be no 'future you' because Itex would have gotten you and killed you. It's all sort of confusing."

"So, Itex wants to keep me at Biotech because they knew about my powers, right? And they wanted me to help them?"

He nodded. "That, and they wanted to see how you managed to get the power, so that maybe they could give it to themselves, too."

That finally gave me the strength to stand up and lean against the wall. "Crap. We have to stop them before--" I stopped when I saw the grim look on Osmond's face. "They already did it. They gave themselves the power." That was how Brigid had ended up behind me when Fang and I saw her in the forest.

"Only two of them managed so far. Brigid and Dr. Hartley."

"And they're gonna take advantage of it." I said, chewing on my lip. "They gave themselves the power to time travel only to get rid of time altogether."

"Yep. And they've just challenged us." said Fang, handing his laptop to me.

I scrolled down the comments until I saw a rather…interesting one.

_**T**__o Max,_

_**O**__ccasionally you do defeat us/ but_

_**W**__e think the time has come/ when_

_**E**__veryone will discover your sad fate_

_**R**__emember to put mind over matter when the clock says 10:48_

"Did they seriously just send us threatening poetry?" said Nudge, incredulous.

"At least they've got a fall back when their job as evil, world-destroying scientists fails." I pointed out.

It finally clicked that the note we had found so long ago, that had the co-ordinates of France on it and the "10:48" thing that always seemed to come up had probably been written by the future me.

Holy crap, the future me sure does know how to freak and bother the crap out of the present me.

"Why is the first letter of every line in bold?" Fang asked suddenly.

I shrugged.

"Maybe all the bold letters spell something together." Angel suggested. "T-O-W-E-R. Now, I may have only had a few weeks of normal schooling, but even _I_ know that that spells tower."

"Good jog, Ange. You cracked the code." I smiled at her, and she smiled back. "So, it's saying I have to meet them at a tower at 10: 48." I paused. "And I have to remember to put 'mind over matter' when I get there, whatever the hell that means."

"There's a clock tower downtown," Ella said. "But do they want you there AM or PM? And what day?"

"PM," I blurted, somehow knowing. "In two days."

Osmond smiled. "I knew it."

"Huh?" I asked.

"We guessed that eventually with your time travel, you'd be able to sense what time you need to be somewhere and also how far into the future or past that another time-traveler is going."

I raised my eyebrows. "You know a lot about time-traveling?"

Osmond nodded.

"Good. Because I'm gonna need some training before I go up against these guys."

**

* * *

****A/N2 (important, please read) : HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!**

**Just thought I should clear something up. **

**Okay. So, people have been telling me that time is something humans made; so technically, if we got rid of time nothing would happen. It's true that humans created the kind of time like years, and like nine o'clock ten o'clock kind of time, but there is a difference between that and the kind of time I'm talking about.**

**The time I'm talking about is different—it's like the kind of time as in how fast your hand moves in front of you, or how when you walk you actually move somewhere, but don't get to your destination right away. Or how you age, you grow, you get older and die (not to sound all negative about the dying part, but it's true :P). **_**That**_** kind of time. **

**Now,**** I don't want reviews flooding in with people arguing over this, because I don't want to start a fight or anything, I'm simply letting you guys know how I consider 'time' so that you understand my fanfiction better. ****I realize that there's a lot of disagreement on the matter of if time exists, so if you don't agree, cool. Doesn't matter to me. But you probably won't really enjoy this story as much if you disagree really strongly. (:**

**I may use, like clock time (like, for example, when Max said she travelled nine minutes into the future), but that's to make it easier to write my story and for you to understand it without blowing up your brains :P. **

**So, my explanation in a nutshell: Time to me is the way we move through the world and how things change. Without moving through time, nothing can take place. For every scientific equation you've ever seen, time is the final (though typically unmentioned) reactant. And the more time passes by, the more things change. And in most cases, time is a constant thing. **

**(This was copied from the website below, because I'm not smart enough to explain this by myself :P) **

**There's a good explanation on this website (which is what I copied pretty much word-for-word from in my 'nutshell explanation', because I feel the exact same way as the author but can't put it into my own words): **_**http : / / hubpages (dot) com / hub / Does – Time – Really – Exist**_

**(Just get rid of all the spaces and the "(dot)"s to visit the website.)**

**Thanks for reading, and sorry for my rambling. Hopefully I helped a bit! (:**

**By the way, ****my birthday's on April 11****th****. Wanna know what ****I want for my birthday****? ****A review from you****! ;)**


	21. Last Chance

_TWO DAYS LATER…_

I stared at the window, hoping it would distract me from the grave dead silence that had enveloped everyone. I watched the raindrops run down the car window, watched all the people on the street that had no problems right now—they didn't have a mission to fight some crazy Itex people who could _time travel_—and they didn't realize that if I failed at said mission, their lives would be over.

"Here it is," Ella whispered, looking at me with wide, frightened eyes.

I nodded. "Thanks. To you and mom, for everything. I'm sorry I'm such a problem child." I tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.

My mom hugged me, which was enough for me to feel a lot better.

I turned to my flock. "Thank you guys for more than everything." I looked up at the clock tower, then spread my wings and flew to it.

On the top of the tower, the wind was so strong it nearly knocked me over, and the rain stung my eyes.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and was about to turn around when I felt my arm get wrenched behind me, and was flipped over onto my back, hitting the ground so hard that the breath was knocked out of me.

I scrambled up, whirled around, and saw Hartley.

Before I could say anything, the sharp headache came back, and it came so fast I was caught off guard and flinched a tiny bit before I could pull myself together long enough to make my face impassive.

Hartley laughed, and I lunged at him, but then suddenly I was seeing double of him…and triple…and then he was upside down and right side up and I couldn't tell which way was up or down or left or right…

Crap, crap, crap! He was screwing with me again. I wiped the wet hair out of my face and stood up, before stumbling and then falling flat on my face.

"Mind over matter!" Angel yelled up to me.

"Thank you for that helpful advice," I grumbled, standing up again. _What_ did that mean? I wracked my brain.

And then it all fell into place.

Mind over matter—it meant that my mind was more powerful than what I was seeing. I had been convincing myself I was going insane, and I couldn't overcome the hallucinations. And so I couldn't.

If I convinced myself there was nothing really in front of me, and that the illusions were not really happening, would they stop?

If I convinced myself I was stronger and better than Hartley, would I be?

Only one way to find out.

"You can't scare me anymore, Hartley." I said confidently. "Mind over matter." And once again I tried to hurl myself at him, and when a hissing snake appeared in front of me, I swallowed my fear and smacked my cupped palms up against Hartley's ears. He cursed as his eardrums popped and kicked at me but I dodged and punched him hard in the jaw.

I rolled on top of him, punching and scratching and really doing anything I could to hurt him because, well, I was pissed.

And then I felt a horrifying searing pain in my lower abdomen. I hissed in both pain and anger and instinctively jerked backwards before seeing Hartley holding a knife with blood on the end.

He had _stabbed_ me, the _bastard_. I had pulled away in time that it wasn't very deep. The problem was, I probably _shouldn't_ have pulled away.

I rolled off him, clutching my stomach, then with my last ounce of strength and adrenaline, I leaped back at Hartley and grabbed onto his neck, swinging him over the building. I suddenly felt faint and dizzy and I was hurting so bad all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and die.

"How does it feel, Max, knowing that you've lost?"

I didn't answer, but decided giving him a death glare would be appropriate, while still clutching my bloody, burning abdomen and trying to hide the fact that I was in deep pain.

And then the ground shook underneath me.

I would have thought it was another hallucination, until people below screamed and ran as the ground continued to rumble.

"No. Way." I breathed, looking down at the huge, jagged crack that had suddenly formed on the street below. I glanced at the clock

10:48.

"Welcome to the beginning of the end," Hartley said, the victory in his voice making my stomach twist.

**

* * *

****A/N: I apologize for the long wait. Life's been pretty crazy for me, and this chapter took a lot of working on to get just right. I'm hoping that the next chapter should be up soon—maybe even today, if I'm lucky. :P**

**Please review!!!**


	22. Weak Spots

As the ground continued to shake, I watched with horror as the end began.

Houses collapsed like boxes. Windows imploded and shattered. Fires started in buildings.

And I, Maximum Ride, the one who was supposed to save the world, had failed and let it all happen.

The wind roared louder, almost drowning out the hysteric screaming of people below as they came out of their houses bleeding, bruised, broken and crying.

"Stop, Hartley! You don't need to do this!" I screamed.

"You won't get hurt, Max. Only the weak people will. They're useless anyway. The world needs more people like you."

"And less people like you. They're not the weak ones; you are, for feeling so threatened by them. Only weak people try to run from their problems. Only weak people try to take over the world."

"You know all about weakness, don't you, Max?" He gestured to my stomach.

A soft heat pulsed behind my eyes, making them sting. But I willed myself not to cry.

Of all the things he could do to me, and no matter how many times he stabbed me with that damn knife, nothing could hurt more than being told that as the world is falling apart below you.

There was nothing I could do. I was useless, it was too late, and I was too weak.

_Max, you're meant to solve this. Otherwise there would be no future you. Think. You know what you have to do._

I gasped and my eyes grew wider than golf balls. The Voice? The Voice was back?!

_Max, I had told you that Fang was not meant to save the world. But he can still be useful._

And then, even though the Voice hadn't said it, I knew what to do.

I rocketed back down to the ground. "Fang, come here. I need you up here with me." I ordered breathlessly. Fang nodded and flew up with me.

As soon as he landed, I swiped the offending pocket knife from Hartley's hand and laid it against Fang's neck.

"Stop this now, or I kill him." I said.

Hartley struggled to seem unconcerned.

"Don't play games with me, you asshole." I growled at him. "He's your secret weapon, not me. You can't do anything without him."

Hartley narrowed his eyes. "But you would never hurt him."

Pressing my lips together and setting my jaw, I took the knife and sliced Fang's upper arm. Fang didn't make a sound, but I saw and felt him flinch.

"Try me." I said in a low, venomous voice, before pressing the knife blade harder onto Fang's skin. "Call off your plan, Hartley."

Hartley paled, but clenched his fists. "Do you understand this is the last plan for Itex? After this, there's nothing left. Itex will collapse."

I didn't say anything. But then, as Hartley said that, the rain stopped. The wind died down. The quaking stopped, and the roads seemed to repair themselves. The houses stopped blazing and put themselves back up, the people's injuries disappeared. It was like watching a movie on rewind.

He had reversed time, like none of this had ever happened.

And he had disappeared.

I dropped the knife with a clatter and threw myself into Fang's arms.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know what else to do! I'm so sorry." I repeated it over and over, tears running down my cheeks.

But then when I pulled away, I saw Fang's shirt was wet with blood.

Fang looked down at his shirt, then at my stomach. He moved my arm away from the wound.

"Oh God, Max…" He whispered.

My wounds hadn't healed like Fang's and the other civilians'. I assumed it had something to do with me being able to control time, just like Hartley.

"It hurts," I said, rolling my eyes. And then suddenly I remembered.

"Fang, the Voice. The Voice came back."

**

* * *

****IMPORTANT A/N (PLEASE READ!): Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Please review (:**

**Okay, so, ****this story is almost coming to an end. But I kind of need your input on something.**

****I'm thinking of doing…sort of ****a **_**third**_** one to this, but not really****. It'll be about another flock (that will **_**NOT**_** be meeting up with Max's in any way), and it's sort of continued after Itex was abolished. So this flock is kind of going to be Itex's last plan, and they make these kids to destroy the world and…yeah. That's all I'm gonna say so far. Again, i****t won't involve Max's flock at all (it'll be like they don't even exist)****, so I don't think it will be too Mary Sue-ish or Self-Insert character-ish anything. ****I already have the plot planned out as well as the characters, and I tried to make it as original as possible! ****And ****I took about 200 Mary Sue litmus tests to make sure that my characters weren't Mary Sue, and they all said they were totally fine, not to mention I researched ways to avoid making them a Mary Sue****.(: Tell me what you think, guys! Thanks!!****


	23. In Between

"What?" Fang asked.

I was about to answer when I felt my stomach turn. Suddenly, I was on my hands and knees, puking.

"Max…" Fang said warily, walking towards me.

I tasted blood in my mouth, which was weird seeing as I had just thrown up…

Oh, God.

I looked down and saw that my puke was dark, dark red.

Blood. I was vomiting up blood.

"That's not good," I said, my voice sounding really weird and really slow.

_Internal bleeding, _the Voice said.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…

_You have internal bleeding. Get help._

_I'm fine, Voice,_ I thought back.

_Get help._

I don't need help!

_Max. Get. Help. _

I don't need…

Help.

Time passed, but I'm not sure how much. I felt like I was drifting, slipping away.

_Beeeeeeeeeeep_…

* * *

Oblivion.

Am I dead?

My body feels fuzzy.

Am I floating? Falling? Sinking?

I feel all three.

But am I really even 'feeling'? It's like I'm numb, but still feel. I can't even explain it.

"Max."

Who is that? Who's here?

"Max."

It sounds like the voice is talking from the end of a long tunnel. This voice is just a voice, though. Not the Voice in my head that just came back.

Long tunnel…

Could I escape through the long tunnel? Could I go back to Fang and my flock and Mom and Ella?

"Go back, Max. You're not ready." The tunnel-voice is saying. "Max, it's Arianna. Go back. You don't belong here yet."

I want to reply, but I can't find my mouth. How can I not find my mouth?

Can you hear me, Arianna?

"Yes."

I'm sorry you're dead.

A sudden thought—if that's what I can call it. It doesn't really _seem_ like a thought…do thoughts even exist here? Can dead people even think?

Is Jeb here? Is Ari?

"Yes."

Can I see them?

"No. You can't because you don't belong here. Go back."

I _CAN'T_.

Unless you will let me though the tunnel you're speaking from. I want to go back, Arianna. But I can't.

No answer.

There's an echo in here. Whatever 'here' is. I can't see. There's not even white or black. Just…nothing. How is that even possible? Am I even really here? Maybe I'm not. Maybe only my soul's in here, and my body isn't. That's why I couldn't find my mouth before.

Echo…echo…echo…

I'm either dead or slowly going absolutely loopy.

I have to get out of here. I have to try at least. I miss my flock.

I want them, not you, Arianna. No offence. How can I escape?

I'll do just what I did when I was learning to make the Tachyon field. I need to really want it, and I do. Focus…focus…focus…

Nothing. I'm still here. If I could cry, I would. But I will keep trying. I need to keep trying, not for me, but for my flock. Right, Arianna?

No answer again.

Echo…echo…_beep_…_beep_…

What the—?

_Beep…_

_Beep… _

_Beep…_

_Beep…_

**

* * *

****A/N: Okay. Quite an interesting chapter, I think, despite the fact that it's the shortest one so far ;). You may not understand all the beeping, but you will find out next chapter if you haven't already. Though I'm sure all you smart readers have (: Also, the chapter name kind of describes where Max is at the moment. But she won't be there forever. She'll have to go to one or the other, but the choice isn't hers anymore, if you know what I mean... ;) **

**So, I still need ****your opinion on the matter I discussed in the last Author's Note, ****since I only got three reviews last chapter, and they didn't really say anything**** about the new story I want to make.**** I'd ****appreciate your feedback on that and this story, too.**

**I really need your help, so please review!**** Thanks!!**


	24. Near Death

**A/N: Congrats to ****Bubbley-chan****, for being the first to guess correctly to what the beeping was! (: **

_

* * *

__Beep…_

_Beep…_

_Beep…_

_Beep…_

The funny thing about just waking up from facing death is that it really snaps everything else into perspective.

My abdomen burned dully, but the pain was nothing compared to what it had been before I had…passed out? Had some sort of freaky near-death-experience?

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Even that felt like a great effort.

White walls. The smell of antiseptic. The same beeping noise I had heard in my vision…thing. Crisp white sheets. People in white coats rushing past the open door of, yes, a hospital room.

I was in a hospital.

On the bright side: No straitjacket, padded cell, therapy-induced seizures, hallucinations, or phones that were dead.

However, the fact that I was in a _hospital_ pretty much outweighed the whole 'bright side'.

The flock was nowhere to be seen, but I could tell they had been here at one point, from the way the place looked.

I felt drowsy, but fought against it. I don't think I really could have slept anyway. The real pain was finally coming.

Levering myself up into a sitting position, I rolled up the hospital gown and saw that the stab wound was stitched up. Thinking about it made my throat close. I had almost died.

And Arianna _was_ dead.

Everything that had happened finally hit me like a wall, knocking the breath out of me, making everything slow down but my mind and heart speed up. She was dead. Gone. I didn't know how, and I didn't know why, but she was. Yet, even when she was dead, she had tried to help me. Because I had been close to death. Literally on the brink of death. Closer to death than anyone could probably ever be.

I heard footsteps, and just as I looked up, Fang appeared in the doorway.

He stopped short and our eyes locked.

There was something about the look on his face, how he was tired and pale and…not quite _there_, that hurt me in a way I'd never felt before.

"Hey," I whispered, pressing my lips together and looking down at the floor. I couldn't look at him—or anyone else in the flock—the same, knowing that they had almost lost me, and that I had almost lost them.

Knowing how easy it really could be to lose one another.

Knowing that my heart stopped, and the flock was the only reason it started beating again.

I never realized how much I needed them, how much I loved them, until it had almost been too late.

Why is it that you never fully appreciate something until it's almost gone?

He didn't reply, just walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, hugging me to him.

"We thought for a while that you wouldn't make it," He said quietly into my hair.

"I'm sorry."

"You know it's not your fault. Don't be stupid."

At these words, I pulled back and took Fang's arm, outstretching it and pointing at the deep cuts on his upper arm.

"I tend to be stupid a lot, don't I?" I whispered.

Fang's jaw tightened. "That's different. You had no other choice."

"Yes I did. I could have died—"

"Stop it, Max. Don't say that." He snapped, yanking his arm away from my grasp.

I stared at him.

"I can't stand even thinking about that." He said softly.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm sorry. From now on I'll try as hard as I can not to get myself killed." I smiled.

"Very funny," said Fang, rolling his eyes, but he leaned down to kiss me anyway.

* * *

**A/N 2**:** Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I made a new poll, on my profile, so please vote! (: Oh, and, just to let you guys know, Max's heart didn't stop from blood loss, but from going into Shock. The medical condition Shock is different from, like, normal 'shock', and it's really dangeorus. It's one of the first things the doctors have to treat for when someone gets internal bleeding or anything like that. Google it if you want. :P **

**Review please, and don't forget to vote on the new poll!**


	25. Epilogue: Memory Lane

**A/N: To ****ColdRootBeer**** and ****Eleven3****, no piñata, but I managed to sort-of involve your mud wishes in here. ;) And special thanks to Ruby1000 for letting me use the theory about the Voice! Check out her story, **_**Maximum Ride Theories**_**. **

* * *

"Where are you taking us?" I demanded to Fang, who was leading the way and flying to God-knows-where.

"Just thought we'd all take a bit of a field trip." Was all he said. Was all he'd been saying the whole trip.

"Fang, I swear to God, if you don't tell me where we're going _right now_—"

"Chill, Max, okay? Where do you think I'm going to take you, a laboratory? Biotech?" He rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Not funny. Biotech is not a funny thing."

We had later found out from Osmond that Biotech had also been the reason for the powers we had gotten that we didn't already have when we escaped the lab, like me flying at super speed, Fang becoming invisible, Nudge attracting metal, Iggy feeling colors and seeing when he's snow blind, and Total growing wings and talking. They had access to all of us, not just me, and could have messed with any of our brains. They had captured Nudge and Gazzy as hostages, hoping that I would kill the whitecoat as an excuse for putting up wanted posters of me and having people report me to them. And they had taken blood from Nudge and Gazzy to see if it would work for the generator they had used on me, since they had the same blood as me.

But they had stopped using the generator on me when Hartley had rewound all the damage he had made, which is why the Voice came back and Angel could read my mind again. Somehow, they had taken the Voice out of my head in order for them to take control of it instead. They had done this, what do you know, on the exact date of my sort-of fifteenth birthday.

Fang landed on a mountain, motioning for us to follow, snapping me out of my thoughts. He held up a blindfold. I just stared at it.

"You have got to be freaking—" I cut myself off when he wrapped it around my eyes. "Am I the only one who doesn't know what's going on?"

"Yup." The flock all chorused at the same time.

I was led a little ways, and then they took off the blindfold.

"Surprise!" The flock yelled.

In front of me was our house. Our E-shaped house. Though it looked pretty old and battered and probably couldn't be lived in anymore, it was one of the best surprises ever.

"Oh, my God," I whispered, stepping closer to it. I blinked fast, tears coming to my eyes.

Angel led the way inside, skipping along. "I haven't seen this house in forever."

I smiled at her, and then remembered that the last time she had been here, she had gotten captured and all of this had started. We hadn't known that that morning would be the last one here.

And that made the tears flow freely.

"I can't believe this," I said in a choked voice.

I went into the kitchen and saw all the dishes were now broken and all over the floor, but the maps still spread out everywhere, and…

I pointed to a tangle of colorful wires strewn on the floor, and turned to Iggy and Gazzy. "Your bomb?" I asked, managing a smile.

They both nodded and high-fived.

Then I walked to my room and opened the door. It was a disaster now, the mattress on the floor; all the dresser drawers opened or even completely pulled out. The Erasers had probably searched our house for clues on where we went after Iggy and Gazzy had left to find us.

I slid my hand across the dresser—causing dust to stir and a lot of it to end up caked on my hand—and looked out the window to the sight I thought I'd never seen again.

I remembered how the last time I had slept here, I had experienced a nightmare about lupine hybrids that now no longer existed.

I sat in my old bed and _sobbed_.

I obviously can't say this was the first time I'd cried, but I could say this is the first time I cried for the reasons I did—for feeling so overwhelmed and moved and just—almost…_happy_.

A knock at the door. I mumbled a response, trying to wipe the tears away and hide that I was just bawling, and the door opened.

"You okay?" asked Fang.

I nodded. "Not sad crying."

Fang sat down next to me, and put one arm around my shoulders.

"I never thought I'd see this place again." I said.

"Me neither."

"Thank you for bringing us here."

He smiled. "It was Gazzy's idea. He said the house had been still standing the last he saw it and wanted you to see it. And I knew the way there, so…" He gestured to the room pointedly.

"So many things have changed since we last lived here." I mused.

Fang nodded. "For example," He leaned over and gave me a long kiss. "If I had done that when we still lived here, you would probably turn me inside out." He said after we pulled away.

I grinned, "Probably."

Fang got up and left the room as Angel called out his name.

I sighed. _Voice?_

_Yes?_

_Can you tell me who—or what you are? I think I deserve it now._

_Yes, I suppose you do. _I swore I heard it chuckle. _Well, Max, I am you._

I blinked. _What?_

_I am nothing but your subconscious. I have simply __just been telling you all of the things that you already know but aren't thinking about bringing to your focus. Every one has one, but Jeb had just programmed yours to be more…powerful. Jeb can do the Voice because he was the one who programmed it into your DNA. I was programmed to appear whenever you needed the most help—which happened to be when you left your home and started on your mission of saving the world. _

That made sense, I supposed. I was glad the Voice—I mean, _me, _I guess—had finally told me who it was. Turns out _I_ was the one who had been annoying myself all the time. I laughed out loud.

"Max, come out here!" said Iggy's voice from outside.

I did, and was greeting with a huge splat of something wet and sticky on my face.

"What—?" I stuttered, as the flock burst into laughter.

I wiped off what had been on my face. Mud.

I saw Fang's hand covered in it.

I pretended to be mad. "You'll pay for that," I growled, throwing my own handful. He ducked, and it hit Iggy, who yelped and staggered backwards, not knowing what just happened. This started a whole new round of hysterics from the rest of us.

That's how we stayed for the longest time—just having fun and being kids, which we all felt like we hadn't done in a thousand years.

But I know my mission's far from done. I've only defeated part of what's destroying the world. This was going to be a lifelong project, I knew. Because there was always going to be someone—or some_thing_—that needed to be safe.

And there's always room for improvement.

So I'm not going to say goodbye, because it;s not the end yet. We're the Flock, and I'm Maximum Ride. We don't give up that easy.

* * *

**A/N 2 _PLEASE READ, DO NOT IGNORE: _So that's the end guys. I hope you enjoyed reading. I know I enjoyed writing it. It's been a great ride, and I appreciate all the people who've read this. **

**Here's the deal: I got one vote on my poll, and it voted '_no'_ to the new story idea. So if you want the story to happen, you better let me know somehow! (:**

**Let me explain more: It's gonna be more like a companion to my other two stories, not a complete sequel. I'm going to make it as un-cliched as possible. If I get at least two reviews or two 'yes' votes, I'll go along with it and post the summary , title, and characters on my profile. I already have the sotry planned out. If I get mostly 'no's, or no reviews about it, you probably won't see much of my writing for a while, 'cause I also have a story idea I wanna put on Fictionpress. So please, if you want the story, make yourself known!**

**And please review this too. Let me know overall how this story was. Let me know your favourite part, favourite quote, or things you want to see in my future story. Let me know please!**

**You guys rock! I wouldn't be here without you, you're the reason I write! Thank you for reading, reviewing, voting on polls, and just being aweome!**

**Fly On and (hopefully) See You Soon,**

**-mebeemmy, AKA Carly. **

**P.S.: I started a blog! It's http : / / mebefoxpepper . blogspot . com. Check it out! **


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